
Glass. 



Book__ 










LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



07 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 




(//if 



' 



THE 



LIFE AND PUBLIC SEKVICES 



OF 



ABKALIAM LINCOLN, 

SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 



TOGETHER WITH 



HIS STATE PAPERS, 



HIS SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, MESSAGES, LETTERS, 
AND PROCLAMATIONS, 

AND 
THE CLOSING SCENES CONNECTED WITH HIS LIFE AND DEATH. 

BY 

HENRY J: RAYMOND. 

ii 

TO 'WTnCII ARE ADDED 

ANECDOTES AND PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, 

By FRANK B. CARPENTER. 



"With a Steel Portrait, and other Illustrations. 



NEW YORK: XQ? 
DERBY AND MILLER, PUBLISHERS, 

No. 5 Spruce Street. 
1865. 



UMCOLK 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1SC5, 

By DERBY & MILLER, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 



Press op Van Bentihtysen, Albany. 



PREFACE. 



Dueing the Presidential canvass of 1864, the author 
of this work prepared for its publishers a volume upon 
the Administration of President Lincoln. Its main object 
was to afford the American people the materials for form- 
ing an intelligent judgment as to the wisdom of continu- 
ing Mr. Lincoln, for four years more, in the Presidential 
office. 

That canvass resulted in his re-election. But he had 
scarcely entered upon the duties and responsibilities 
of his second term, when his career was closed by 
assassination. He had lived long enough, however, 
to finish the great work which had devolved upon him. 
Before his eyes were closed, they beheld the overthrow 
of the rebellion, the extirpation of slavery, and the res- 
toration, over all the land, of the authority of the 
Constitution of the United States. 

Not the people of his own country alone, but all 
the world, will study with interest the life and public 
acts of one whose work was at once so great and so 
successful. The principles which guided his conduct, 
and the policy by which he sought to carry them out — 
the temper and character which were the secret sources 
of his strength — will be sought and found in the acts 
and words of his public life. For more truly, perhaps, 



6 Preface. 

than any other man of his own or of any other time, 
Mr. Lincoln had but one character and one mode of 
action, in public and private affairs. 

It is the purpose of this work, so far as possible, 
to facilitate this inquiry. Every public speech, message, 
letter, or document of any sort from his pen, so far as 
accessible, will be found included in its pages. These 
documents, with the narrative by which they are accom- 
panied, may, it is hoped, aid the public in understanding 
aright the character and conduct of the most illustrious 
actor, in the most important era, of American history. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PACK 

1. PORTRAIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, engraved by A. H. Ritchie . F«e TiH» 

2. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S EARLY HOME IN KENTUCKY . . . " 16 

8. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S HOME IN SPRINGFIELD . . . . "104 

4. RAISING THE OLD FLAG AT INDEPENDENCE HALL . . . " 15-1 

5. PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND HIS FAMILY, 1S61 . . " 158 

6. INAUGURATION AS PRESIDENT AT WASHINGTON . . . . " 162 

7. PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION " 2C0 

a FACSIMILE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S LETTER TO MR. RAYMOND .569, 590 

9. PRESIDENT LINCOLN ENTERING RICHMOND .... Face 090 

10. ASSASSINATION AT FORD'S THEATRE "696 

11. THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN " T02 

12. FUNERAL CORTEGE THROUGH NEW YORK "70S 

13. REMAINS LYING IN STATE AT CHICAGO "710 

14. THE LAST RITES AT SPRINGFIELD "713 

15. FUNERAL ARCH OVER HUDSON RITER RAILROAD . "724 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER L 



Early Life of Abraham Lincoln. — His Own Record. — His Ancestry. — Changes 
of Residence. — Death and Funeral of his Mother. — Entrance upon Polit- 
ical Life. — A Member of the Legislature and of Congress. — The Mexican 
"War Page 17 

CHAPTER H. 

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE. 

Presidential Campaign of 1856. — Douglas at Springfield in 1857. — Lincoln's 
Reply. — The Great Debate. — Eloquent Defence of the Doctrines of the 
Republican Party. — Result of the Contest Pago 46 

CHAPTER IIL 

MR. LINCOLN AND THE PRESIDENCY." 

The Campaign of 1859 in Ohio. — Mr. Lincoln's Speeches at Columbus and 
Cincinnati. — His Visit to the East. — In New York City. — The Great 
Speech at Cooper Institute. — Mr. Lincoln nominated for the Presidency. 
— His Election Pago 78 

CHAPTER IT. 

FROM THE ELECTION, NOVEMBER 6, 1860, TO THE INAUGURATION, MARCH 4, 

1861. 

The Presidential Election. — Secession of South Carolina. — Formation of the 
Rebel Confederacy. — The Objects of Secession. — Seoession Movements in 
"Washington. — Debates in Congress. — The Crittenden Resolutions. — Con- 
ciliatory Action of Congress. — The Peace Conference. — Action of Con- 
gress. — The Secession Movement unchecked Page 107 

CHAPTER V. 

MOM SPRINGFIELD TO WASHINGTON. 

Speech at Indianapolis. — Arrival and Speech at Cincinnati. — Speech at Co- 
lumbus. — Speech at Pittsburg. — Arrival and Speech at Cleveland. — Arri- 
val at Buffalo. — At Rochester and Syracuse. — At Albany. — Speech at 



10 Contents. 

Poughkeepsie. — In New York. — Reply to the Mayoi of New York. — In 
New Jersey.— Arrival at Philadelphia.— Speech in Philadelphia. — At 
Harrisburg. — Arrival and Reception at Washington Page 131 



CHAPTER VI. 

FROM THE INAUGURATION TO THE MEETING OF CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1861. 

The Inaugural Address. — Organization of the Government. — The Bombard- 
ment of Fort Sumter. — Passage of Troops through Baltimore. — Interview 
with the Mayor of Baltimore.— The Blockade of Rebel Ports. — The Pres- 
ident and the Virginia Commissioners. — Instruction to our Ministers 
abroad. — Recognition of the Rebels as Belligerents. — Rights of Neu- 
trals Page 161 

CHAPTER VII. 

THE EXTRA SESSION OF CONGRESS, AND THE MILITARY EVENTS OF THE SUMMER 

OF 1S61. 

First Annual Message. — Action of Congress. — Slavery and Confiscation. — The 
Defeat at Bull Run. — Treatment of the Slavery Question. — General Fre- 
mont and the President. — The Trent Affair Page 106 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE REGULAR SESSION OF CONGRESS, DECEMBER, 1861. — THE MESSAGE. — 
DEBATES, ETC. 

Meeting of Congress. — President's Message. — Disposition of Congress. — 
Slavery in Territories and District of Columbia. — Proposed Aid to Eman- 
cipation by Slave States. — The Debate in Congress. — The President and 
General Hunter. — The Border State Representatives. — The Border State 
Reply. — The Finances. — The- Confiscation Bill. — The President's Action 
and Opinions. — The President's Message. — Message in Regard to Mr. 
Cameron. — The President and his Cabinet. — Close of the Session of Con- 
gress. — The President's Letter to Mr. Greeley. — The President and the 
Chicago Convention. — Proclamation of Emancipation Page 212 

CHAPTER IX. 



the military administration of 1862. — the president and general 
m'clellan. 

General McClellan succeeds McDowell. — The President's Order for an Ad- 
vance. — The Movement to the Peninsula. — Rebel Evacuation of Manas- 
sas. — Arrangements for the Peninsular Movement. — The President's 
Letter to General McClellan. — The Rebel Strength at Yorktown. — The 



Contents. 11 

Battle of "Williamsburg.— McClellan's Fear of being Overwhelmed. — The- 
President to McClellan. — Jackson's Raid in tbe Shenandoah Valley. — Tho 
President to McClellan. — Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. — McClellan's Com- 
plaints of McDowell. — His Continued Delays. — Prepares for Defeat. — 
Calls for more Men. — His Advice to the President. — Preparations to Con- 
centrate the Army. — General Halleck to McClellan. — Appointment of 
General Pope. — Imperative Orders to McClellan. — McClellan's Failure to 
aid Pope. — His Excuses for Delay. — Proposes to Leave Pope Unaided. 
— Excuses for Franklin's Delay. — His Excuses proved Groundless. — His 
alleged Lack of Supplies.— Advance into Maryland. — The President's 
Letter to McClellan. — He Protests against Delay. — McClellan Relieved 
from Command. — Speech by the President Page 262 



CHAPTER X. 

GENERAL CONDUCT OF THE ADMINISTRATION IN 1862. 

Successes in the Southwest. — Recognized Objects of the War. — Relations of 
the War to Slavery. — Our Foreign Relations. — Proposed Mediation of the 
French Emperor. — Reply to the French Proposal. — Secretary Seward's 
Dispatch. — The President's Letter to Fernando Wood. — Observance of 
the Sabbath Page 326 

CHAPTER XL 

THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OF lS62-'63. — MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT 
AND GENERAL ACTION OF THE SESSION. 

The President's Message. — Are the Rebel States Aliens? — The Provision for 
a Draft. — Message on the Finances and Currency. — Admission of West 
Virginia. — Close of the Session Page 314 

CHAPTER' XII. 

ARBITRARY ARRESTS. — THE SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS. 
— THE DRAFT. 

Arbitrary Arrests. — First Suspension of the Habeas Corpus. — Aid and Com- 
fort to the Rebels. — Executive Order about Arrests. — Appointment of a 
Commissioner on Arrests. — Opposition to the Government. — The Case of 
Vallandigham. — Governor Seymour on Vallandigham. — President Lin- 
coln on Arrests. — President Lincoln on Military Arrests. — The Presi- 
dent's Letter to Mr. Corning — -The President to the Ohio Committee. — 
The President on Vallaudigham's Case. — The Habeas Corpus Suspended. 
— Proclamation Concerning Aliens. — The Draft --The New York Riots. — 
Letter to Governor Seymour. — The Draft Resumed and Completed. Page 373 



12 Contents. 



chapter XIII. 

MILITARY EVENTS OP 1SG3. — THE REBEL DEFEAT AT GETTYSBURG. — FALL 
OF VICKSBURG AND PORT HUDSON. 

The Battles at Fredericksburg.— Rebel Raid into Pennsylvania. — Results at 
Gettysburg.— Vicksburg and Port Hudson Captured.— Public Rejoicings. 
— The President's Speech. — Thanksgiving for Victories. — Battle of Chat- 
tanooga. — Thanksgiving Proclamation Page 407 

CHAPTER XIV. 

POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN MISSOURI. — THE STATE ELECTIONS OF 1863. 

General Fremont in Missouri. — The President's Letter to General Hunter. — 
Emancipation in Missouri. — Appointment of General Schofield. — The 
President and the Missouri Radicals. — The President to the Missouri 
Committee. — The President and General Schofield. — The President and 
the Churches.— Letter to Illinois.— The Elections of 1863 Page 422 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE CONGRESS OF 1863-64. — MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. — ACTION OF 
THE SESSION. — PROGRESS IN RAISING TROOPS. 

The President's Message. — The Proclamation of Amnesty. — Explanatory 
Proclamation. — Debate on Slavery. — Call for Troops. — General Blair's 
Resignation. — Diplomatic Correspondence. — Our Relations with England. 
— France and Mexico. — The President and the Monroe Doctrine. . . Page 445 

CHAPTER XVI. 

MOVEMENTS TOWARDS RECONSTRUCTION. 

State Governments in Louisiana and Arkansas. — Difference of Views be- 
tween the President and Congress. — The Rebellion and Labor. — The 
President on Benevolent Associations. — Advancing Action concerning 
the Negro Race. — Free State Constitutions Page 481 

CHAPTER XVH. 

MILITARY EVENTS OF THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1864. 

Battle of the Olustee. — Kilpatrick's Raid on Richmond. — The Red River 
Expedition. — The Fort Pillow Massacre. — Rebel Atrocities. — General 
Grant's Advance upon Richmond. — Battles in May. — Sherman's March to 
Atlanta. — Rebel Raids in Maryland and Kentucky. — Siege of Petersburg. 
— Martial Law hi Kentucky. — Draft for Five hundred thousand Men. — 
Capture ol Mobile and Atlanta Page 513 



Contents. 13 

chapter xviii. 

THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864 

The Presidential Election. — The Cleveland Convention. — The Convention at 
Baltimore. — Mr. Lincoln's Renomination and Acceptance. — Popular Feel- 
ing During the Summer. — The Arguelles Case. — The Forged Proclama- 
tion. — The Niagara Falls Conference. — The Chicago Convention. — Progress 
and Result of the Campaign. — Popular Joy at the Result Page 54? 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE MEETING OP CONGRESS AND PROGRESS OF THE WAR, 

Condition of the Country at the Meeting of Congress. — The Message. — Pro- 
ceedings in Congress. — Fort Fisher. — Death of Edward Everett. — Peace 
Conference in Hampton Roads. — Military Affairs Page 620 

CHAPTER XX. 

CLOSE OF THE REBELLION. 

The Inaugural Address. — Proclamation to Deserters. — Speeches by the Pres- 
ident. — Destruction of Lee's Army. — The President's Visit to Richmond. 
— Return to Washington. — Close of the "War Page 669 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION. 

The Condition of the Country. — Assassination of the President. — Murderous 
Assault upon Secretary Seward. — The Funeral Procession from Washing- 
ton to Springfield, Illinois. — Fate of the Assassins. — Estimate of Mr. 
Lincoln's Character. — Conclusion Page 691 



ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES OF PRESIDENT 

LINCOLN. 

TAB* 

Mr. Lincoln's Sadness 726 

His Favorite Poem 728 

His Religious Experience 730 

His Sympathy 735 

His Humor, Shrewdness, and Sentiment 743 

The Emancipation Proclamation . 759 



14 Contents. 



APPENDIX. 

LETTERS ON SUNDRY OCCASIONS. 

FAGB 

To Mr. Hodges, of Kentucky 7G7 

To General Hooker 168 

To John B. Fry 110 

To Governor Magoffin 710 

To Count Gaspa'rin Ill 

The President and General McClellan 112 

Warnings against Assassination 119 

REPORTS, DISPATCHES, AND PROCLAMATIONS RELATING TO 
THE ASSASSINATION. 

Secretary Stanton to General Dix 183 

The Death-Bed 185 

The Assassins 786- 

Reward Offered by Secretary Stanton 187 

Plight of the Assassins 787 

The Conspiracy Organized in Canada 781 

Booth Killed.— Harold Captured 188 

Reward Offered by President Johnson 1S8 

The Funeral. .• 183 



OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

Acting Secretary Hunter to Minister Adams 789 

Acting Secretary Hunter to his Subordinates 789 

Orders from Secretary Stanton and General Grant 789 

Orders from Secretary Welles 790 

Order from Secretary McCulloch 791 

Order from Postmaster-General Dennison 791 

Proclamation by President Johnson of a Day of Humiliation and Mourning. 791 

Secretary Stanton to Minister Adams 192 

Important Letter from J. Wilkes Booth 793 

Indictment of the Coxspirators 196 

The Finding of the Court 799 



The following memorandum given by Mr. Lincoln to Hicks, the well- 
known artist, while he was painting his portrait in Springfield, Illinois, 
soon after his first nomination for the Presidency, is not without in- 
terest : — 

" I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin County, Kentucky, 
at a point within the now County of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half 
from where Hodgen's mill now is. My parents being dead, and my own 
memory not serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. 
It was on Nolen Creek. A. Lincoln." 

June 14, 1S60. 



THE LIFE, 

PUBLIC SERVICES AND STATE PAPERS 

OP 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



CHAPTER I. 



Early Life of Abraham Lincoln. — His Own Record. — His Ancestry. — 
Changes of Residence. — Death and Funeral of his Mother. — En- 
trance upon Politioal Life. — A Member of the Legislature and 
of Congress. — The Mexican War. 

The compiler of tlie "Dictionary of Congress" states, 
that while preparing that work for publication, in 185S, he 
sent to Mr. Lincoln the usual request for a sketch of hia 
life, and received the following reply : 

" Born, February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. 
*' Education defective. 
" Profession, a Lawyer. 

" IIaye been a Captain of Volunteers in Black Hawk War. 
" Postmaster at a very small Office. 

" Four times a Member of the Illinois Legislature, and was a 
Member of the Lower House of Congress. 

" Yours, &c, 

"A. Lincoln." 

Around the facts stated with such characteristic mod- 
esty and brevity clusters the history of the early life of 
our late President. The ancestors of Abraham Lincoln 
were of English descent ; and although they are believed 
to have originally emigrated to this country with the 
followers of William Penn, it is difficult to trace them 
2 



18 The Life, Public Services, and 

farther lback than to their place of residence in Berks 
County, Pennsylvania, whence a part of the family re- 
moved, in 1750, to that section of Virginia now known as 
Rockingham County. Thirty years later, Abraham Lin- 
coln, the grandfather of our late President, finding civil- 
ization crowding him too closely, and possibly enticed 
by the stories which came back to the frontier settle- 
ments from that famous pioneer, Daniel Boone, but 
undeterred by the dangers which he knew he must in- 
evitably encounter, determined to make another bold 
push westward, and settled on Floyd's Creek, in Ken- 
tucky, in what is now known as Bullitt County. Hardly 
had he secured a home for his little family, when he was 
fatally shot by an Indian, who came upon him stealthily 
while he was at work, some distance from his log cabin. 
Thus deprived of her protector, his widow at once re- 
moved, with her three sons and two daughters, to that 
part of Kentucky now known as Washington County. 
Thomas, the eldest of the sons, the father of Abraham 
Lincoln, was but six years old when his mother was so 
suddenly made a widow. The necessity of assisting to 
provide for her probably delayed his own settlement in 
life, for it was not until he was twenty-eight years old, 
in 1806, that he married Nancy Hanks. His wife was a 
Virginian by birth ; but no facts regarding either her an- 
cestry or early life have been preserved, although it is a 
tradition, possibly originating in the reputation achieved 
"by her son, that she was a woman of rare mental endow- 
ment. Immediately after their marriage the couple re- 
moved to Hardin County, Kentucky, and there, on Feb- 
ruary 12th, 1809, as has already been stated, Abraham 
Lincoln was born. His early life was spent in poverty 
and toil ; but his father, feeling keenly his own deficien 
cies, determined to give his son every possible advantage 
in the way of gaining an education, and, when but seven 
years old, he was equipped with an old copy of Dil- 
worth's Spelling Book, which constituted one-third of 
the family library, and was sent to school to a Mr. Hazel. 
It is also said that one Zachariah Riney, a Roman Catholic, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 19 

having some connection with the Trappists, who had 
founded an institution on Pottinger's Creek, with Urban 
Guillet as superior, had the honor of instructing the 
future President in the rudiments. Whether Mr. Lin- 
coln favored his other children, one a girl two years 
older than Abraham, and the other a boy two years his 
junior, to the same extent, is doubtful, for the routine of 
school life was not only broken in upon by his frequent 
demands upon his son's time, but finally it was inter- 
rupted altogether by his determination to abandon Ken- 
tucky and try his fortunes where his energies were not 
checked and repressed by the obstacles which slavery 
constantly thrust in his way. In 1817 Mr. Lincoln car- 
ried this plan into execution. The old home was sold, 
their small stock of valuables placed upon a raft, and the 
little family took their way to a new home in the wilds 
of Indiana, where free labor would have no competition 
with slave labor, and the poor white man might hope 
that in time his children could take an honorable posi- 
tion, won by industry and careful economy. The place 
of their destination was Spencer County, Indiana. For 
the last few miles they were obliged to cut their road as 
they went on. "With the resolution of veteran pioneers 
they toiled, sometimes being able to pick their way for 
a long distance without chopping, and then coming to a 
standstill in. consequence of dense forests. Suffice it to 
say, that they were obliged to cut a road so much of the 
way that several days were emploj^ed in going eighteen 
miles. It was a difficult, wearisome, trying journey, and 
Mr. Lincoln often said, that he never passed through a 
harder experience than he did in going from Thompson's 
Ferry to Spenser County, Indiana." 

Thus, before he was eight years old, Abraham Lincoln 
began the serious business of life. The cabin in which 
the family lived was built of logs, and even the aid of 
such a mere child was of account in the wilderness where 
they now found themselves, after seven days of weary 
travel. Their neighbors, none of whom lived nearer 
than two or three miles, welcomed the strangers, and 



20 The Life, Public Services, and 

lent a hand towards building the rude dwelling in which 
the future President lay down, after fatiguing but health- 
ful toil, to dream the dreams of childhood, undisturbed 
by thoughts of the future. 

But just as Abraham was becoming accustomed to his 
new residence, his home was made desolate by the death 
of his mother, which occurred when he was ten years old. 
She died long before she could have imagined, in her 
wildest dreams, the eminence and distinction which her 
son was to attain ; but she was happy in the knowledge 
that, chiefly under her own tuition, for she had not in- 
trusted his education entirely to the schoolmaster who 
chanced to settle within reach, her favorite son had 
learned to read the Bible — the book which, as a Christian 
woman, she prized above all others. It is impossible to 
estimate the influence which this faithful mother ex- 
erted in moulding the character of her child ; but it is 
easy to believe that the earnestness with which she im- 
pressed upon his mind and heart the holy precepts, did 
much to develop those characteristics which in after 
years caused him to be known as pre-eminently the 
"Honest" man. There is touching evidence that Abra- 
ham held the memory of his mother in sacred remem- 
brance. She had instructed him in the rudiments of 
writing, and Mr. Lincoln, in spite of the disparaging 
remarks of his neighbors, who regarded the accomplish- 
ment as entirely unnecessary, encouraged his son to per- 
severe, until he was able to put his thoughts upon paper 
in a style which, although rude, caused him to be regarded 
as quite a prodigy among the illiterate neighbors. One 
of the very first efforts of his faltering pen was writing a 
letter to an old friend of his mother's, a travelling 
preacher, urging him to come and deliver a sermon over 
her grave. The invitation must have been couched in 
impressive, if not affecting language ; for, although the 
letter was not written until nine months after his mother's 
remains had been deposited in their last resting-place, 
Parson Elkins, the preacher to whom it was extended, 
responded to the request, and three months subsequent- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 21 

ly, just a year after her decease, preached a sermon com- 
memorative of the virtues of oue whom her neighbors 
still held in affectionate and respectful remembrance. In 
his discourse it is said that the Parson alluded to the 
manner in which he had received the invitation, and Abra- 
' ham's pen thereafter found frequent employment, in 
writing letters for the same neighbors who had before 
pretended to esteem lightly the accomplishment of which 
they at last recognized the value. 

About two years after the death of Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. 
Lincoln married Mrs. Sally Johnston, a widow with three 
children. She proved an excellent mother to her step- 
son and daughter, and a faithful wife. During the twelve 
years that the family remained in Indiana, Abraham's 
father encouraged him to improve all the opportunities 
offered for mental development. How scanty these privi- 
leges were, may be inferred from the fact that the entire 
number of days that he was able to attend school hardly 
exceeded one year. While in Indiana, one of his teachers 
was a Mr. Dorsey, who, a few months ago, was living in 
Schuyler County, Illinois, where he was looked up to with 
much respect by his neighbors, as one of those who had 
assisted in the early instruction of the then President of 
the United States. He tells with great satisfaction how his 
pupil, who was then remarked for the diligence and eager- 
ness with which he pursued his studies, came to the 
log-cabin school-house arrayed in buckskin clothes, a rac- 
coon-skin cap, and provided with an old arithmetic which 
had somewhere been found for him to begin his investiga- 
tions into the " higher branches." "In connection with his 
attendance upon Mr. Crawford's school, an incident is 
told which is sure to find a place in every biography of 
our late President. Books were, of course, very hard to 
find in the sparsely settled district of Indiana where the 
Lincoln family had their home, and every printed volume 
upon which Abraham could lay his hands was carefully 
guarded and eagerly devoured. Among the volumes in 
Mr. Crawford'' s scanty library was a copy of Ramsay' s 
Life of Washington, which Abraham secured permission- 



22 The Life, Public Services, and 

upon one occasion, to take home with him. During a 
severe storm he improved his leisure "by reading his book. 
One night he laid it down carefully, as he thought, and 
the next morning he found it soaked through ! The wind 
had changed, the storm had beaten in through a crack in 
the logs, and the appearance of the book was ruined. 
How could he face the owner under such circumstances? 
He had no money to offer as a return, but he took the 
book, went directly to Mr. Crawford, showed him the 
irreparable injury, and frankly and honestly offered to 
work for him until he should be satisfied. Mr. Crawford 
accepted the offer, and gave Abraham the book for his 
own, in return for three days' steady labor in "pulling 
fodder." This, and Weems's Life of Washington, were 
among the boy' s favorite books, and the story that we have 
just told is so nearly parallel to the famous "hatchet" in- 
cident in the early days of the Father of his Country, that 
it is easy to believe that the frequent perusal of it im- 
pressed npon his mind, more effectually than any solemn 
exhortation could have done, the precept that "honesty 
is the best policy," and thus assisted to develop that 
character of which integrity was so prominent a trait 
in after years. Among the other volumes which Mr. 
Lincoln was accustomed to refer to, as having been 
eagerly read in his youthful days, were a Life of Henry 
Clay, Esop's Fables, and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. 
It is quite probable that the quaint phraseology of these 
last two volumes, and their direct and forcible illustra- 
tions, may have impressed npon the productions of Mr. 
Lincoln's pen that style which is one of their most pecu- 
liar and favorite characteristics. 

When nineteen years old, Abraham Lincoln, moved, 
perhaps, equally by the desire to earn an honest liveli- 
hood in the shape of "ten dollars a month and found," 
and by curiosity to see more of the world, made a trip 
down the Mississippi to New Orleans, npon a flat-boat. 
He went in company with the son of the owner of the 
boat, who intrusted a valuable cargo to their care. The 
trip was quite an eventful and exciting one, for on the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 23 

way down the great river they were attacked "by seven 
negroes, who hoped to capture the "boat and the cargo. 
They found, however, that they had undertaken a task 
to the execution of which they were unequal. After a 
spirited contest the negroes were driven back, and com- 
pelled to abandon their attempt, leaving our boatmen 
the undisputed masters of the field. Upon this trip 
young Lincoln'' s literary acquirements were called into 
useful action, and besides the stipulated ten dollars per 
month, he gained a substantial reputation as a youth of 
promising business talent. 

During the twelve years that the family had been 
living in Indiana, the advancing tide of civilization had 
again encroached upon them almost imperceptibly, and 
in 1830 Thomas Lincoln, impatient of the restrictions 
which he found the gradually increasing population 
drawing around him, again determined to seek a new 
home farther west, and after fifteen days' journey came 
upon a site near Decatur, Macon County, Illinois, which 
seemed to him a desirable one. He immediately erected 
a log cabin, and, with the aid of his son, who was now 
twenty-one, proceeded to fence in his new farm. Abra- 
ham had little idea, while engaged in the unromantic 
occupation of mauling the rails which were to bound his 
father s possessions, that he was writing a page in his ltfe 
which would be read by the whole nation years after- 
ward. Yet so it proved to be. A writer, describing one 
of the incidents in the earlier political career of the late 
President, says: — 

During the sitting of the Republican State Convention, at Decatur, a 
banner, attached to two of these rails, and bearing an appropriate inscrip- 
tion, was brought into the assemblage, and formally presented to that 
body, amid a scene of unparalleled enthusiasm. After that, they were in 
demand in every State of the Union in which free labor is honored, 
where they were borne in processions of the people, and hailed by hun- 
dreds of thousands of freemen as a symbol of triumph, and as a glorious 
vindication of freedom and of the rights and dignity of free labor. These, 
however, were far from being the first and ouly rails made by Lincoln. 
He was a practised hand at the business. Mr. Lincoln has now a can? 
made from one of the rails split by his own hands in boyhood. 



24 The Life, Public Services, and 

Every one rememlbers how, during the presidential 
campaign of 1860, Mr. Lincoln was characterized as a 
"rail-splitter ;" first, sneeringly, by his opponents ; after- 
wards by his own supporters, as the best possible proof 
that he was of and from the people. 

Notwithstanding the increasing age of Thomas Lincoln, 
Ms disposition was so restless, and his desire for change 
bo ineradicable, that, after a single year' s residence in his 
new home, he determined to abandon it, and in the spring 
of 1831 started for Coles County, sixty or seventy miles 
to the eastward. Abraham determined not to follow his 
father in his journeyings, and possibly the want of his son' s 
efficient help compelled him to forego further change, 
and to settle down for the rest of his days on the upper 
waters of the Kaskaskia and Embarras, where he died on 
January 17, 1851, in the seventy-third year of his age. 
In the spring of 1831, Abraham made his second trip to 
New Orleans, in the capacity of a fiat-boatman, returning 
in the summer of the same year. The man who had em- 
ployed him for this voyage was so well pleased with the 
energy and business capacity displayed by young Lincoln, 
that upon establishing a store at New Salem, some twenty 
miles from Springfield, soon afterward, he engaged him to 
assist him in the capacity of clerk, and also to superin- 
tend a flooring-mill in the immediate vicinity. In one of 
the celebrated debates during the Senatorial campaign, 
Mr. Douglas ventured to refer, in rather disparaging 
terms, to this year of Mr. Lincoln's life, taunting him 
with having been a grocery -keeper. To this Mr. Lincoln 
replied as follows : — 

The judge is wofully at fault about his early friend Lincoln being a 
"grocery-keeper." I don't know as it would be a great sin, if I had 
been ; but he is mistaken. Lincoln never kept a grocery anywhere in 
the world. It is true that Lincoln did work the latter part of one winter 
in a little still-house, up at the head of a hollow. 

This frank statement drew the sting completely from 
the taunt of Senator Douglas. Some, at least, of those 
who were listening to the debate, knew that, at the time 



* 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 25 

to wliicli Mr. Lincoln referred, a winter of unusual 
severity had caused extreme suffering through that sec- 
tion of Illinois, and that he was not only anxious, "but 
compelled, to take up with any occupation by which he 
might turn an honest penny in order to keep his father's 
family, who were even then partially dependent upon 
him, from positive want. 

In 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out, and Mr. Lin- 
coln, prompt as ever to answer the call of duty, joined a 
volunteer company and took the field against the Indians. 
That he had already gained a recognized position in the 
part of the State where he then lived, is clearly indicated 
by the fact that he was elected captain of his company. 
After a few weeks' ineffectual service, the force which had 
responded to the call of Governor Reynolds was dis- 
banded. The troubles broke out anew, however, within 
a short time, and again Mr. Lincoln enlisted, this time 
also as a private. AVhat rank was conferred upon him, 
if any, during this campaign is not recorded ; but in spite 
of the pressure brought to bear upon him by older mem- 
bers of his company, to induce him to return home, he 
discharged his duties faithfully through the three months' 
campaign. 

Many } T ears after, during his congressional career, Mr. 
Lincoln referred thus humorously to his military services 
in this "war:" — 

By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I was a military hero? 
Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk war I fought, hied, and came 
away. Speaking of General Cass's career, reminds me of my own. I 
was not at Sullivan's defeat, but I was about as near to it as Cass was to 
null's surrender; and, like him, I saw the place soon after. It is quite 
certain that I did not break my sword, for I had none to break; but I 
bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke his sword, 
the idea is, he broke it in desperation. I bent the musket by accident. 
If General Cass went in advance of me in picking whortleberries, I guess 
I surpassed him in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any live 
fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a great many bloody 
struggles with the mosquitoes; and although I never fainted from loss of 
blood, I certainly can say I was often very hungry. 

His military career closed, Mr. Lincoln turned his atten- 



26 The Life, Public Services, and 

tion to politics. He espoused the cause of Henry Clay — 
in opposition to that of General Jackson, who was very 
popular in that section of Illinois — and ran as a candidate 
for the State legislature. Although this contest took 
place three months "before the presidential election, the 
same elements entered into it, and Mr. Lincoln was de- 
feated, as he undoubtedly expected to "be, although his 
failure must have been amply compensated for by the 
highly complimentary vote that he received in his own 
precinct, which gave him two hundred and seventy-seven 
votes out of two hundred and eighty-four cast ; and this, 
be it remembered, was the first and last time that he was 
ever beaten before the people. The contest ended, Mr. 
Lincoln settled down to business again. He purchased 
a store and stock of goods on credit, and secured the 
postmastership of the town ; but the venture was un- 
successful, and he sold out. Meanwhile, he was still 
employing every opportunity offered him to improve his 
mind. He had mastered grammar, and occupied his 
leisure time in general reading, taking care to write out a 
synopsis of every book he perused, so as to fix the con- 
tents in his memory. 

About this time he met John Calhoun, afterwards 
president of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention. 
Calhoun proposed to Lincoln to take up surveying, and 
himself aided in his studies. He had plenty of employment 
as a surveyor, and won a good reputation in this new 
line of business ; but the financial crash of 1837 destroyed 
his business, and his instruments were finally sold under 
a sheriff's execution. This .reverse again threw him back 
into political life, and as the best preparation for it he 
vigorously pursued his legal studies. 

In 1834, Mr. Lincoln again ran for the legislature, and 
this time was elected. Then that political life commenced, 
which his countrymen's votes have since shown they 
fully appreciated. In 1836, Mr. Lincoln was again elect- 
ed to the legislature as one of the seven representatives 
from Sangamon County, and during this term he was 
assigned a place on the Finance Committee, his mem oer- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 27 

ship of the Committee on Public Accounts and Expendi- 
tures during his first tenn having qualified him for this 
duty. « 

The following letter, which was written during this 
canvass, besides being an interesting reminiscence of Mr. 
Lincoln's early political life, is valuable as exhibiting, 
in a striking manner, his determination to be frank and 
honest in all his dealings with the public and with his 
opponents : — 

New Salem, June 21, 183(5. 

Dear Colonel: — I am told that, during my absence last week, you 
passed through this place, and stated publicly that you were in possession 
of a fact or facts, which, if known to the public, would entirely destroy 
the prospects of N. W. Edwards and myself at the ensuing election; but 
that, through favor to us, you would forbear to divulge them. 

No one has needed favors more than I, and, generally, few have been 
less unwilling to accept them ; but in this case favor to me would be in- 
justice to the public, and, therefore, I must beg your pardon for declining 
it. That I once had the confidence of the people of Sangamon county is 
sufficiently evident, and if I have since done any thing, either by design 
or misadventure, which, if known, would subject me to a forfeiture of 
that confidence, he that knows of that thing and conceals it, is a traitor 
to his country's interest. 

I find myself wholly unable to form any conjecture of what fact or 
facts, real or supposed, you spoke. But my opinion of your veracity will 
not permit me, for a moment, to doubt that you, at least, believed what 
you said. I am flattered with the personal regard you manifested for 
me; but I do hope that, on more mature reflection, you will view the 
public interest as a paramount consideration, and therefore determine to 
let the worst come. 

I here assure you that the candid statement of facts on your part, how- 
ever low it may sink me, shall never break the ties of personal friendship 
between us. 

I wish an answer to this, and you are at liberty to publish both, if you 
choose. Very respectfully, 

A. Lincoln. 

Col. Robert Allen. 

It was in this year (1S36) that Mr. Lincoln first became 
acquainted with Mr. Douglas, whom he was destined 
to meet in so many hotly contested campaigns, but whom 
he did not then anticipate that he should, twenty-four 
years afterwards, defeat in a presidential election. The 
Democrats of course held the ascendency in the Illinois 



28 The Life, Public Services, and 

legislature at this time, and they took advantage of their 
strength, to pass some extreme pro-slavery resolutions, 
branding as '^abolitionists" those who refused to indorse 
them. That his position might not be misunderstood, 
Mr. Lincoln took advantage of his parliamentary privi- *i 
lege to enter upon the Journal of the House, in connec- 
tion with a colleague, his reasons for voting in opposition 
to the resolutions. This document, which now possesses 
historical interest, reads as follows : — 

March 3, 1S3T. 
The following protest was presented to the Ilouse, which was read and 
ordered to he spread on the journals, to wit: 

" Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both 
branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned 
hereby protest against the passage of the same. 

" They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice 
and bad policy ; but that the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends 
rather to increase than abate its evils. 

" They believe that the Congress of the United States has no power, 
under the Constitution, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the 
different States. 

" They believe that the Congress of the United States has the power, 
under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia; 
but that the power ought not to be exercised, unless at the request of the 
people of said District. 

" The difference between these opinions and those contained in the said 
resolutions, is their reason for entering this protest. 
" (Signed) 

"Dan Stone, 
"A. Lincoln, 
Representatives from the County of Sangamon.' 1 ' 1 

In 1838, Mr. Lincoln was for the third time elected to 
the State legislature ; and among his six colleagues, as rep- 
resentatives from Sangamon County, was John Calhoun, 
since notorious for his connection with the Lecompton 
Constitution. His position as leader of the Whigs in the 
House was so well recognized, that he received the party 
vote for the Speakership, and was defeated by only one 
vote. In 1840, for the fourth successive "term, Mr. Lin- 
coln was returned to the legislature, and again received 
the vote of his party as the candidate for Speaker. 
Meanwhile, he had been vigorously engaged in canvas- 
sing the State, in anticipation of the presidential election. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 29 

and had greatly enhanced his reputation by his repeated 
earnest and eloquent efforts. 

Politics had interfered so seriously with Mr. Lincoln' s 
legal studies, which had been energetically prosecuted 
during the intervals of legislative vcluty, that at the close 
of this term he declined a renomination, in order that he 
might devote his whole time to the practice of his profes- 
sion. As already stated, he had been admitted to the bar 
in 1836 ; and on April 15, 1837, he settled permanently 
in Springfield, the seat of Sangamon County, which was 
destined to be his future home. His friend and former 
colleague in the legislature, Hon. John T. Stuart, was 
his partner. 

One incident of his law practice partakes deeply of the 
romantic. It is authentic, however, and is well worth 
narrating. When Mr. Lincoln first went out into the 
world, to earn a living for himself, he worked for a Mr. 
Armstrong, of Petersburg, Menard County, who, with 
his wife, took a great interest in him, lent him books to 
read, and, after the season for work was over, encour- 
aged him to remain with them until he should find some- 
thing "to turn his hand to." They also hoped much 
from his influence over their son, an over-indulged and 
somewhat unruly boy. The sequel, which is thus graph- 
ically told by the Cleaveland Leader, shows how these 
good people reaped their reward for their generosity to 
the young man whom they so generously took under 
their protection. That journal says : — 

Some few years since, the eldest son of Mr. Lincoln's old friend, 
Armstrong, the chief supporter of his widowed mother — the good old 
man having some time previously passed from earth — was arrested on 
the charge of murder. A young man had heen killed during a riotous 
melee in the night-time at a camp-meeting, and one of his associates 
stated that the death-wound was inflicted by young Armstrong. A pre- 
liminary examination was gone into, at which the accuser testified so 
positively, that there seemed no doubt of the guilt of the prisoner, and 
therefore he was held for trial. As is too often the case, the bloody 
act caused an undue degree of excitement in the public mind. Every 
improper incident in the life of the prisoner — each act which bore the 
least semblance, to rowdyism — each schoolboy quarrel, — was suddenly 



30 The Life, Public Services, and 

remembered and magnified, until they pictured him as a fiend of the most 
horrible hue. As these rumors spread abroad they were received as gos- 
pel truth, and a feverish desire for vengeance seized upon the infatuated 
populace, whilst only prison bars prevented a horrible death at the hands 
of a mob. The events were heralded in the county papers, painted in 
highest colors, accompanied By rejoicing over the certainty of punishment 
being meted out to the guilty party. The prisoner, overwhelmed by the 
circumstances under which he found himself placed, fell into a melan- 
choly condition bordering on despair, and the widowed mother, looking 
through her tears, saw no cause for hope from earthly aid. 

At this juncture, the widow received a letter from Mr. Lincoln, vol- 
unteering his services in an effort to save the youth from the impending 
stroke. Gladly was his aid accepted, although it seemed impossible for 
even his sagacity to prevail in such a desperate case ; but the heart of the 
attorney was in his work, and he set about it with a will that knew no 
such word as fail. Feeling that the poisoned condition of the public mind 
was such as to preclude the possibility of impanelling an impartial jury 
in the court having jurisdiction, he procured a change of venue and a 
postponement of the trial. lie then went studiously to work unravelling 
the history of the case, and satisfied himself that his client was the victim 
of malice, and that the statements of the accuser were a tissue of false- 
hoods. 

When the trial was called on, the prisoner, pale and emaciated, with 
hopelessness written on every feature, and accompanied by his half- 
hoping, half-despairing mother — whose only hope was in a mother's belief 
of her son's innocence, in the justice of the God she worshipped, and in 
the noble counsel, who, without hope of fee or reward upon earth, had 
undertaken the cause — took his seat in the prisoners' box, and with a 
"stony firmness" listened to the reading of the indictment. Lincoln sat 
quietly by, while the large auditory looked on him as though wondering 
what he could say in defence of one whose guilt they regarded as certain. 
The examination of the witnesses for the State was begun, and a well- 
arranged mass of evidence, circumstantial and positive, was introduced, 
which seemed to impale the prisoner beyond the possibility of extrication. 
The counsel for the defence propounded but few questions, and those of a 
character which excited no uneasiness on the part of the prosecutor-^- 
merely, in most cases, requiring the main witnesses to be definite as to 
the time and place. When the evidence of the prosecution was ended, 
Lincoln introduced a few witnesses to remove some erroneous impressions 
in regard to the previous character of his client, who, though somewhat 
rowdyish, had never been known to commit a vicious act; and to show 
that a greater degree of ill feeling existed between the accuser and tho 
accused, than the accused and the deceased. 

The prosecutor felt that the case was a clear one, and his opening 
speech was brief and formal. Lincoln arose, while a deathly silence 
pervaded the vast audience, and in a clear and moderate ton© began hi3 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 31 

Argument. Slowly and carefully he reviewed the testimony, pointing out 
the hitherto unobserved discrepancies in the statements of the principal 
witness. That which had seemed plain and plausible he made to appear 
crooked as a serpent's path. The witness had stated that the affair took 
place at a certain hour in the evening, and that, by the aid of the brightly 
Binning moon, he saw the prisoner inflict the death-blow with the slung- 
ehot. Mr. Lincoln showed that at the hour referred to the moon had not 
yet appeared above the horizon, and consequently the whole tale was a 
fabrication. 

An lilmost instantaneous change seemed to have been wrought in the 
minds of his auditors, and the verdict of "not guilty" was at the end of 
every tongue. But the advocate was not content with this intellectual 
achievement. His whole being had for months been bound up in this 
work of gratitude and mercy, and as the lava of the over charged crater 
bursts from its imprisonment, so great thoughts and burning words leaped 
forth from the soul of the eloquent Lincoln. He drew a picture of the 
perjurer so horrid and ghastly, that the accuser could sit under it no 
longer, but reeled and staggered from the court-room, whilst the audience 
fancied they could see the brand upon his brow. Then in words of thril- 
ling pathos Lincoln appealed to the jurors as fathers of some who might 
become fatherless, and as husbands of wives who might be widowed, to 
yield to no previous impressions, no ill-founded prejudice, but to do his 
client justice; and as he alluded to the debt of gratitude which he owed 
the boy's sire, tears were seen to fall from many eyes unused to weep. 

It was near night when he concluded, by saying that if justice was 
done — as he believed it would be — before the sun should set, it would 
shine upon his client a free man. The jury retired, and the court ad- 
journed for the day. Half an hour had not elapsed, when, as the officers 
of the court and the volunteer attorney sat at the tea-table of their hotel, 
a messenger announced that the jury had returned to their seats. All 
repaired immediately to the court-house, and whilst the prisoner was 
being brought from the jail, the court-room was filled to overflowing with 
citizens from the town. "When the prisoner and his mother entered, 
eilence reigned as completely as though the house were empty. The fore- 
man of the jury, in answer to the usual inquiry from the court, delivered 
the verdict of "Not Guilty!" The widow dropped into the arms of her 
6on, who lifted her up and told her to look upon him as before, free and 
innocent. Then, with the words, "Where is Mr. Lincoln?" he rushed 
across the room and grasped the hand of his deliverer, whilst his heart 
was too full for utterance. Lincoln turned his eyes toward the West, 
where the sun still lingered in view, and then, turning to the youth, said : 
"It is not yet sundown and you are free." I confess that my cheeks were 
not wholly unwet by tears, and I turned from the affecting scene. As 1 
cast a glance behind, I saw Abraham Lincoln obeying the Divine injunc- 
ticn by comforting the widowed and fatherless. 



32 The Life, Public Services, and 

A writer in the San Francisco Bulletin, in the course 
of an article giving reminiscences of Mr. Lincoln, thus 
sketches still another phase of his legal career : — 

A number of years ago, the writer of this lived in one of the judicial 
circuits of Illinois in which Abraham Lincoln had an extensive, though 
not very lucrative practice. The terms of the court were held quarterly, 
and usually lasted about two weeks. The occasions were always seasons 
of great importance and much gayety in the little town that had the honor 
of being the county seat. Distinguished members of the Bar from sur- 
rounding and even from distant counties, ex-judges and ex-members of 
Congress attended, and were personally, and many of them popularly 
known to almost every adult, male and female, of the limited population. 
They came in by stages and on horseback. Among them, the one above 
all whose arrival was looked forward to with the most pleasurable antici- 
pations, and whose possible absence — although he never was absent — 
was feared with the liveliest emotions of anxiety, was "Uncle Abe," as 
he was lovingly called by us all. Sometimes he might happen to be a 
day or two late, and then, as the Bloomington stage came in at sundown, 
the Bench and the Bar, jurors and the general citizens, would gather in 
crowds at the hotel where he always put up, to give him a welcome if he 
should happily arrive, and to experience the keenest feelings of disappoint- 
ment if he should not. If lie arrived, as he alighted and stretched out 
both his long arms to shake hands with those nearest to him and with 
those who approached — his homely face handsome in its broad and sun- 
Bhiny smile, nis voice touching in its kindly and cheerful accents — every 
one in his presence felt lighter in heart and became joyous. He brought 
light with him. He loved his fellow-men with all the strength of his 
great nature, and those who came in contact with him could not help 
reciprocating the love. His tenderness of the feelings of others was 
of sensitiveness in the extreme. 

For several years after settling in Springfield, Mr. Lin- 
coln remained a bachelor, residing in the family of Hon. 
William Butler, who was, a few years since, elected State 
Treasurer. On November 4th, 1842, he married Miss 
Mary Todd, daughter of Hon. Robert S. Todd, of Lex- 
ington, Kentucky. She now mourns the violent and 
untimely death of her lamented husband. 

Mr. Lincoln 1 s love for Henry Clay, which was enkin 
died by the life of that statesman, which he read when a 
boy, grew with his years, and when he reached manhood 
it had deepened into enthusiastic admiration. In 1844 he 
stumped Illinois for him, and even extended his labors to. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 33 

Indiana. None felt more keenly than lie the unexpected 
defeat of his favorite. In 1846 Mr. Lincoln was induced 
to accept the nomination for Congress, and in the district 
which had, two years before, given Mr. Clay, for Presi 
dent, a majority of nine hundred and fourteen votes, he 
astonished himself and his friends by rolling up a major- 
ity of fifteen hundred and eleven. To add to the signifi- 
cance of his triumph, he was the only Whig representative 
from Illinois, which had then seven members in that 
body. This Congress had before it subjects of great 
importance and interest to the country. The Mexican 
War was in progress, and Congress had to deal with 
grave questions arising out of it, besides determining and 
providing the means by which it was to be carried on. 
The irrepressible Slavery Question was there also, in 
many of its Protean forms, — in questions on the right of 
petition, in questions as to the District of Columbia, in 
many questions as to the Territories. 

Mr. Lincoln was charged by his enemies in later years, 
when political hostility was hunting sharply for material 
out of which to make capital against him, with lack of 
patriotism, alleging that he voted against the war. The 
charge was sharply and clearly made by Judge Douglas, 
at the first of their joint discussions in the Senatorial 
contest of ISoS. In his speech at Ottawa, he said of Mr. 
Lincoln, that "while in Congress he distinguished him- 
self by his opposition to the Mexican war, taking the 
si le of the common enemy against his own country, 
and when he returned home he found that the indigna- 
tion of the people followed him everywhere." 

No better answer can be given to this charge than that 
which Mr. Lincoln himself made, in his reply to this 
speech. He says: "I was an old Whig, and whenever 
the Democratic party tried to get me to vote that the war 
had been righteously begun by the President, I would 
not do it. But whenever they asked for any money or 
land-warrants, or any thing to pay the soldiers there, 
during all that time I gave the same vote that Judge 
Douglas did. You can think as you please as to whether 



34 The Life, Public Services, and 

that was consistent. Such is the truth, and the Judge 
has a right to make all he can out of it. But when he, 
"by a general charge, conveys the idea that I withheld 
supplies from the soldiers who were fighting in the Mex- 
ican war, or did any thing else to hinder the soldiers, he 
is, to say the least, grossly and altogether mistaken, as a 
consultation of the records will prove to him." 

We need no more thorough refutation of this imputa- 
tion upon his patriotism than is embodied in this clear 
and distinct denial. It required no little sagacity, at that 
time, to draw a clear line of demarcation between sup- 
porting the country while engaged in war, and sustaining 
the war itself, which Mr. Lincoln, in common with the 
great body of the party with which he was connected, 
regarded as utterly unjust. The Democratic party made 
vigorous use of the charge everywhere. The whole 
foundation of it, doubtless, was the fact which Mr. Lin- 
coln states, that, whenever the Democrats tried to get 
him "to vote that the war had been righteously begun," 
he would not do it. He showed, in fact, on this point, 
the same clearness and directness, the same keen eye for 
the important point in a controversy, and the same tena- 
city in holding it fast, and thwarting his opponent's 
utmost eiforts to obscure it and cover it up, to draw 
attention to other points and raise false issues, which 
were the marked characteristics of his great controversy 
with Judge Douglas at a subsequent period of their poli- 
tical history. It is always popular, because it always 
seems patriotic, to stand by the country when engaged iu 
war — and the people are not invariably disposed to judge 
leniently of efforts to prove their country in the wrong as 
against any foreign power. In this instance, Mr. Lincoln 
saw that the strength of the position of the Administration 
before the people, in reference to the beginning of the war, 
was in the point, which they lost no opportunity of reiter- 
ating, viz. : that Mexico had shed the blood of our citizens 
on our own soil. This position he believed to be false, 
and he accordingly attacked it in a series of resolutions 
requesting the President to give the House information 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 35 

on that point ; which President Polk would have found 
as difficult to dodge as Douglas found it to dodge the 
questions which Mr. Lincoln proposed to him. 

As a part of the history of Mr. Lincoln' s Congressional 
career, we give these resolutions, omitting the preamble, 
which simply reproduces the language employed by 
President Polk in his message, to convey the impression 
that the Mexicans were the aggressors, and that the war 
was undertaken to repel invasion, and to avenge the shed- 
ding of the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil. 
The quaint phraseology of the resolutions stamps them 
as the 'production of Mr. Lincoln's pen. They read as 
follows : 

Resolved ly the House of Representatives, That the President of tho 
United States be respectfully requested to inform this House — 

1st. Whether the spot on which the blood of our citizens was shed, as 
in his messages declared, was or was not within the territory of Spain, at 
least after the treaty of 1819, until the Mexican revolution. 

2d. Whether that spot is or is not within the territory which was 
wrested from Spain by the revolutionary Government of Mexico. 

3d. Whether that spot is or is not within a settlement of people, which 
settlement has existed ever since long before the Texas revolution, and 
until its inhabitants fled before the approach of the United States. army. 

4th. Whether that settlement is or is not isolated from any and all 
other settlements by the Gulf and the Rio Grande on the south and west, 
and by wide uninhabi'ted regions on the north and east. 

5th. Whether the people of that settlement, or a majority of them, or 
any of them, have ever submitted themselves to the government or laws 
of Texas or of the United States, by consent or by compulsion, either by 
accepting office, or voting at elections, or paying tax, or serving on juries, 
or having process served upon them, or in any other way. 

Cth. Whether the people of that settlement did or did not flee from the 
approach of the United States army, leaving unprotected their homes and 
their growing crops, before the blood was shed, as in the messages stated ; 
and whether the first blood so shed, was or was not shed within the 
enclosure of one of the people who had thus fled from it. 

7th. Whether our citizens, whose blood was shed, as in his messages 
declared, were or were not, at that time, armed officers and soldiers, sent 
into that settlement by the military order of the President, through the 
Secretary of War. 

8th. Whether the military force of the United States was or was not 
so sent into that settlement after General Taylor had more than onoe 



36 The Life, Public Services, and 

intimated to the War Department that, in his opinion, no such movement 
■was necessary to the defence or protection of Texas. 

These resolutions, which Mr. Polk would have found 
it very inconvenient to answer, were laid over, under the 
rule, and were never acted upon, although Mr. Lincoln 
commented on them in a speech, made January 12, 1848, 
which, "by the way, was his first formal appearance in the 
House. In this speech he discussed, in his homely "but 
forcible manner, the absurdities and contradictions of Mr. 
Polk's message, and exposed its weaknesses. 

In these times, when questions of so much greater mag 
nitude and importance have overshadowed those which 
occupied or agitated the public mind twenty years ago, 
it seems strange that political opponents could even 
then have compelled Mr. Lincoln to defend his course in 
Congress, as having been prompted by patriotic motives. 
The nation which has been plunged into mourning by his 
sudden and violent death, would now regard as gratuitous 
and puerile any argument, the purpose of which should 
be to prove that Mr. Lincoln's action upon this Mexican 
question was governed by the same inflexible ideas of 
honor and right which ruled him so unwaveringly 
throughout his entire public career, and which have 
since made his memory sacred. 

A Whig from conviction, Mr. Lincoln acted consistently 
with his party upon all questions of public concern. On 
June 20, 1848, after the nomination of General Cass as the 
Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Mr. Lincoln 
made an able speech in support of the line of policy the 
Whigs had pursued regarding internal improvements. 
He ridiculed mercilessly the position taken by General 
Cass upon this important question, and, in concluding his 
remarks, thus stated his own views, while he dealt a 
severe blow at the same pseudo chivalric spirit of the 
South, which he has since been chiefly instrumental in 
humbling to the dust. He said : 

IIow to do something, and still not to do too much, is the desideratum 
Let each contribute his mito in the way of suggestion. The late Silaa 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 37 

"Wright, in a letter to the Chicago convention, contributed his, which was 
worth something ; and I now contribute mine, which may be worth 
nothing. At all events, it will mislead nobody, and therefore will do no 
harm. I would not borrow money. I am against an overwhelming, 
crushing system. Suppose that, at each session, Congress shall first 
determine how much money can, for that year, be spared for improve- 

1 ments ; then apportion that sum to the most important objects. Su 
far all is easy; but how shall we determine which are the most im- 
portant ? On this question comes the collision of interests, I shall be 
slow to acknowledge that your harbor or your river is more important 
than mine, and vice versa. To clear this difficulty, let us have that same 
statistical information which the gentleman from Ohio [Mr. Vinton] sug- 
gested at the beginning of this session. In that information we shall have 

.a stern, unbending basis of facts — a basis in nowise subject to whim, 
caprice, or local interest. The pre-limited amount of means will save us 
from doing too much, and the statistics will save us from doing what we 
do in wrong places. Adopt and adhere to this course, and, it seems to 
me, the difficulty is cleared. 

One of the gentlemen from South Carolina [Mr. Rhett] very much de- 
precates these statistics. He particularly objects, as I understand him, to 
counting all the pigs and chickens in the land. I do not perceive much 
force in the objection. It is true, that if every thing be enumerated, a 
portion of such statistics may not be very useful to this object. Such 
products of the country as are to be consumed where they are produced, 
need no roads and rivers, no means of transportation, and have no very 
proper connection with this subject. The surplus, that which is produced 
in one place to be consumed in another ; the capacity of each locality for 
producing a greater surplus ; the natural means of transportation, and 
their susceptibility of improvement; the hindrances, delays, and losses of 
life and property during transportation, and the causes of each, would be 
among the most valuable statistics in this connection. From these it 
would readily appear where a given amount of expenditure would do the 
most good. These statistics might be equally accessible, as they would 
be equally useful, to both the Nation and the States. In this way, and by 
these means, let the Nation take hold of the larger works, and the States 
the smaller ones ; and thus, working in a meeting direction, discreetly, 
but steadily and firmly, what is made unequal in one place may be equal- 
ized in another, extravagance avoided, and the whole country put on that 
career of prosperity which shall correspond with its extent of territory, 
its natural resources, and the intelligence and enterprise of its people. 

The nomination of General Taylor as the Whig candi- 
date for the Presidency, by the Convention of that party 
at Philadelphia, to which Mr. Lincoln was a delegate, 
fairly opened the campaign, and Congress prolonged its 



38 The Life, Public Services, anu 

session until August 14th, as the members, — Senators and 
Representatives alike, — insisted, each for himself, upon 
expressing his views, and deliniug his position in full, for 
the benefit of his constituents. The only speech of any 
length made by Mr. Lincoln, subsequent to that from 
which we have already quoted, was delivered July 27th, 
when he defended, with characteristic shrewdness and 
ability, the position General Taylor had taken regarding 
the exercise of the veto power. This speech is, perhaps, 
more strongly marked by Mr. Lincoln' s peculiarities than 
any other of his Congressional utterances. The keen 
sarcasm with which he exposed the inconsistencies of 
both General Cass and Mr. Van Buren, is not surpassed 
in any of his subsequent eiforts. 

Upon the adjournment of Congress, the members en- 
tered energetically into the popular canvass, Mr. Lincoln 
first making a visit to New England, where he delivered 
a number of effective campaign speeches in support of 
General Taylor. The journals of the day note his pres- 
ence at the Massachusetts State Convention during his 
brief visit to New England, and speak in terms of the 
highest praise of an address which he delivered at New 
Bedford. He felt conscious, however, that he could labor 
more effectively among his Western friends, and accord- 
ingly spent most of his time during the canvass in that 
section of the country. Although he failed to carry his 
own State for his favorite candidate, his disappointment 
was entirely forgotten in General Taylor' s election. 

In December, when the Thirtieth Congress reassembled 
for its second session, Mr. Lincoln took his seat ; but the 
exhaustion consequent upon the exciting political cam- 
paign just closed, reacted upon Congress, and precluded 
the possibility of any exciting discussions. Important 
action was taken, however, upon the slavery question 
in some of its phases. It is needless to state, that du- 
ring his entire Congressional service Mr. Lincoln steadily 
and persistently cast his vote upon the side of freedom. 
He repeatedly recorded himself against laying on the 
table, without consideration, petitions in favor of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 39 

abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and 
against the slave-trade. 

On the question of abolishing slavery in the District, 
he took rather a prominent part. A Mr. Gott had in- 
troduced a resolution directing the proper committee 
to introduce a bill abolishing the slave-trade in the 
District. On January 16 (1849), Mr. Lincoln moved the 
following amendment, instructing the Committee to intro- 
duce a bill not for the abolition of the slave-trade, but of 
slavery, within the District : — 



Resolved, That the Committee on the District of Columbia be instructed 
to report a bill in substance as follows : 

Seo. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States, in Congress assembled, That no person now within the 
District of Columbia, nor now owned by any person or persons now resi- 
dent within it, nor hereafter born within it, shall ever be held in slavery 
Within said District. 

Sec. 2. That no person now within said District, or now owned by any 
person or persons now resident within the same, or hereafter born within 
it, shall ever be held in slavery without the limits of said District : Pro- 
vided, That the officers of the Government of the United States, being 
citizens of the slaveholding States, coming into said District on public 
business, and remaining only so long as may be reasonably necessary for 
that object, may be attended into and out of said District, and while there, 
by the necessary servants of themselves and their families, without their 
right to hold such servants in service being impaired. 

Sec. 3. That all children born of slave mothers within said District, 
on or after the 1st day of January, in the year of our Lord 1850, shall be 
free ; but shall be reasonably supported and educated by the respective 
owners of their mothers, or by their heirs or representatives, and shall 
eerve reasonable service as apprentices to such owners, heirs, or represen- 
tatives, until they respectively arrive at the age of years, when 

they shall be entirely free : And the municipal authorities of Washington 
and Georgetown, within their respective jurisdictional limits, are hereby 
empowered and required to make all suitable and necessary provision for 
enforcing obedience to this section, on the part of both masters and ap- 
prentices. 

Sec. 4. That all persons now within this District, lawfully held as 
slaves, or now owned by any person or persons now resident within said 
District, shall remain such at the will of their respective owners, their 
heirs, or legal representatives : Provided, that such owner, or his legal 
representatives, may at any time receive from the Treasury of the United 



40 The Life, Public Services, and 

States the full value of his or her slave, of the class in this section men- 
tioned, upon ■which such slave shall be forthwith and forever free : And pro- 
vided further, That the President of the United States, the Secretary of 
State, and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall be a board for determining 
the value such slaves as their owners desire to emancipate under this 
section, and whose duty it shall be to hold a session for the purpose on tho 
first Monday of each calendar month, to receive all applications, and, on 
satisfactory evidence in each case that the person presented for valuation 
is a slave, and of the class in the section mentioned, and is owned by the 
applicant, shall value such slave at his or her full cash value, and give to 
the applicant an order on the Treasury for the amount, and also to such 
slave a certificate of freedom. 

Sec. 5. That the municipal authorities of Washington and George- 
town, within their respective jurisdictional limits, are hereby empowered 
and required to provide active and efficient means to arrest and deliver 
up to their owners all fugitive slaves escaping into said District. 

Sec. C. That the elective officers within said District of Columbia are 
hereby empowered and required to open polls, at all the usual places of 
holding elections, on the first Monday of April next, and receive the vote 
of every free white citizen above the -age of twenty-one years, having 
resided within said District for the period of one year or more next prece- 
ding the time of such voting for or against this act, to proceed in taking said 
votes, in all respects not herein specified, as at elections under the muni- 
cipal laws, and with as little delay as possible to transmit correct state- 
ments of the votes so cast to the President of the United States; and it 
shall be the duty of the President to count such votes immediately, and 
if a majority of them be found to be for this act, to forthwith issue his pro- 
clamation giving notice of the fact ; and this act shall only be in full force 
and effect on and after the day of such proclamation. 

Seo. 7. That involuntary servitude for the punishment of crime, 
•whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall in no wise be pro- 
hibited by this act. 

Sec. 8. That for all purposes of this act, the jurisdictional limits of 
Washington are extended to all parts of the District of Columbia not 
included within the present limits of Georgetown. 

A bill was afterwards reported by tlie committee for- 
bidding the introduction of slaves into the District for 
sale or hire. This bill also Mr. Lincoln supported, but 
in vain. The time for the success of such measures, in- 
volving to an extent attacks upon slavery, had not yet 
come. 

The question of the Territories also came up in many 
ways. The Wilmot Proviso had made its first appearance 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 41 

in the previous session, in the August before, but it was re- 
peatedly before this Congress also, when efforts were made 
to apply it to the territory which we procured from Mex- 
ico, and to Oregon. On all occasions when it was before 
the House it was supported by Mr. Lincoln, and he stated 
during his contest with Judge Douglas, that he had voted 
for it, "in one way and another, about forty times." 
He thus showed hinself, in 1847, to be the same friend of 
freedom for the Territories which he was afterwards, du- 
ring the heat of the Kansas struggle. 

Another instance in which the slavery question was 
before the House, was in the famous Pacheco case. This 
was a bill to reimburse the heirs of Antonio Pacheco for 
the value of a slave who was hired by a United States 
officer in Florida, but ran away and joined the Seminoles, 
and, being taken in arms with them, was sent out of 
Florida with them, when they were transported to the 
West. The bill was reported to the House by the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs. This committee was com- 
posed of nine. Five of these were slaveholders, and 
these made the majority report. The others, not being 
slaveholders, reported against the bill. The ground 
taken by the majority was, that slaves were regarded as 
properly by the Constitution, and when taken for public 
service should be paid for as property. The principle 
involved in the bill, therefore, was the same one which 
the slaveholders had struggled in so many ways to main- 
tain. As they sought afterwards to have it established 
by a decision of the Supreme Court, so now they tried 
to have it recognized by Congress, and Mr. Lincoln op- 
posed it there, as heartily as he afterwards withstood 
it when it took the more covert, but no less dangerous 
shape of a judicial dictum. 

Mr. Lincoln's congressional career terminated at the 
close of this session (March 4, 1849), and, for reasons 
satisfactory to Mm self, he declined a renomination, 
although his re-election, had he consented to become a 
candidate, was morally certain. In this same year,, how- 
ever, he was the Whig candidate in Illinois for United 



42 Tiie Life, Public Services, and 

States Senator, "but without success — the Democrats hay- 
ing the control of the State, which they retained until the 
conflict arising out of the Nebraska bill, in 1854. 

Nothing could more forcibly illustrate the complete 
rest and relaxation from political cares and anxieties 
which Mr. Lincoln enjoyed during these few years, than 
the fact that he found time, while practising his pro- 
fession, to indulge the exercise of his inventive faculties. 
A correspondent of the Boston Advertiser, writing from 
Washington, thus states the form in which the mechan- 
ical genius of the ex-Congressman and future President 
found expression : — 

Occupying an ordinary and commonplace position in one of the show- 
cases in the large hall of the Patent Office, is one little model which, in 
ages to come, will he prized as at once one of the most curious and one of 
the most sacred relics in that vast museum of unique and priceless things. 
This is a plain and simple model of a steamhoat, roughly fashioned in 
wood, by the hand of Abraham Lincoln. It bears date in 1S-19, when 
the inventor was known simply as a successful lawyer and rising politi- 
cian of Central Illinois. Neither his practice nor his politics took up so 
much of his time, as to prevent him from giving much attention to con- 
trivances which he hoped might be of benefit to the world and of profit 
to himself. 

The design of this invention is suggestive of one phase of Abraham 
Lincoln's early life, when he went up and down the Mississippi as a flat- 
boatman, and became familiar with some of the dangers and inconve- 
niences attending the navigation of the Western rivers. It is an attempt 
to make it an easy matter to transport vessels over shoals and snags and 
sawyers. The main idea is that of an apparatus resembling a noiseless 
bellows, placed on each side of the hull of the craft, just below the water- 
line, and worked by an odd but not complicated system of ropes, valves, 
and pulleys. When the keel of the vessel grates against the sand or 
obstruction, these bellows are to be filled with air; and, thus buoyed up, 
the ship is expected to float lightly and gayly over the shoal, which would 
otherwise have proved a serious interruption to her voyage. 

The model, which is about eighteen or twenty inches long, and has 
the air of having been whittled with a knife out of a shingle and a cigar- 
box, is built without any elaboration or ornament, or any extra apparatus 
beyond that necessary to show the operation of buoying the steamer over 
the obstructions. Herein it differs from very many of the models which 
share with it the shelter of the immense halls of the Patent Office, and 
which are fashioned with wonderful nicety and exquisite finish, as if 
much of the labor and thought and affection of a lifetime had been de- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 43 

Toted to their construction. This is a model of a different kind ; carved 
as one might imagine a retired rail-splitter would whittle, strongly, hut 
not smoothly, and evidently made with a view solely to convey, hy the 
simplest possible means, to the minds of the patent authorities, an idea 
of the purpose aud plan of the simple invention. The label on the 
steamer's deck informs us that the patent was obtained; but we do not 
learn that the navigation of the western rivers was revolutionized by this 
quaint conception. The modest little model has reposed here sixteen 
years; and since it found its resting-place here on the shelf, the shrewd 
inventor has found it his task to guide the ship of state over shoals more 
perilous, and obstructions more obstinate, than any prophet dreamed of 
when Abraham Lincoln wrote his bold autograph on the prow of thia 
miniature steamer. 

This curious episode, however, must not create the 
impression that Mr. Lincoln had allowed his mind to be 
entirely diverted from the observation of the important 
political events then transpiring. He undoubtedly noted 
carefully the development of those questions which sub- 
sequently absorbed so large a share of attention, and 
calculated accurately the influence which they would 
have upon the relations of the two great political organ- 
izations. He had fought slavery often enough to know 
what it was, and he was thoroughly conversant with the 
animus of its supporters. It is not, therefore, at all likely 
that he was taken by surprise when the Nebraska Bill 
was introduced, and the proposition was made by Stephen 
A. Douglas to repeal that very Missouri Compromise 
which he had declared to be "a sacred thing, which no 
ruthless hand would ever be reckless enough to disturb." 

The Nebraska Bill was passed May 22, 1854, and the 
event gave new and increased force to the popular feel- 
ing in favor of freedom, which the proposition to repeal 
the Missouri Compromise had excited. Everywhere the 
friends of freedom gathered themselves together and ral- 
lied round her banner, to meet the conflict which was 
plainly now closely impending, and which had been forced 
upon the people by the grasping ambition of the slave- 
holders. The political campaign of that year in Illinois 
was one of the severest ever known. It was intensified 
by the fact that a United States Senator was to be chosen 



44 The Life, Public Services, and 

"by the legislature then to he elected, to fill the place of 
Shields, who had voted. with Douglas in favor of the Ne- 
braska Bill. 

Mr. Lincoln took a prominent part in this campaign. 
He met Judge Douglas before the people on two occa- j 
sions, the only ones when the Judge would consent to 
such a meeting. The first time was at the State Fair at 
Springfield, on October 4th. This was afterwards con 
sidered to have been the greatest event of the whole can 
vass. Mr. Lincoln opened the discussion ; and in hia 
clear and eloquent, yet homely way, exposed the tergiver- 
sations of which his opponent had been guilty, and the 
fallacy of his pretexts for his present course. 

Mr. Douglas had always claimed to have voted for the 
repeal of the Missouri Compromise because he sustained 
the "great principle" of popular sovereignty, and de- 
sired that the inhabitants of Kansas and Nebraska should 
govern themselves, as they were well able to do. The 
fallacy of drawing from these premises the conclusion 
that they therefore should have the right to establish 
slavery there, was most clearly and conclusively exposed 
by Mr. Lincoln, so that no one could thereafter be misled 
by it, unless he was a willing dupe of pro-slavery 
sophistry. 

"My distinguished friend," said he, "saj^s it is an 
insult to the emigrants of Kansas and Nebraska to sup- 
pose that they are not able to govern themselves. We 
must not slur over an argument of this kind because it 
happens to tickle the ear. It must be met and answered. 
I admit that the emigrant to Kansas and Nebraska is 
competent to govern himself, but I deny Ms right to 
govern any other person without that person's consent.'' 

The two opponents met again at Peoria. We believe 
it is universally admitted that on both of these occasions 
Mr. Lincoln had decidedly the advantage. The result of 
the election was the defeat of the Democrats, and the 
election of anti-Nebraska men to the legislature, to secure 
the election of a United States Senator who would be true 
to freedom, if they could be brought to unite upon a can- 



• State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 45 

didate. Mr. Lincoln was naturally the candidate of 
those who were of Whig antecedents. Judge Trumbull 
was as naturally the candidate of some who had really 
come out from the Democratic party — though they still 
called themselves Free Democrats. 

There was danger, of course, in such a posture of 
affairs, and Mr. Lincoln, in that spirit of patriotism which 
he has always shown, "by his own personal exertions 
secured the votes of his friends for Judge Trumbull, who- 
was accordingly chosen Senator. The charge was after- 
wards made by the enemies of both,* that there had been 
in this matter a breach of faith on the part of Judge 
Trumbull, and that Mr. Lincoln had the right to feel, and 
did feel, aggrieved at the result. Mr. Lincoln himself, 
however, expressly denied, in his speech at Charleston, 
September 18, 1858, that there had been any such breach 
of faith. 



46 TnE Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER II. 

THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE. 

Presidential Campaign of 1856. — Douglas at Springfield in 1857. — 
Lincoln's Reply. — The Great Debate. — Eloquent Defence of the 
Doctrines of the Republican Party. — Result of the Contest. 

The pressure of the slavery contest at last fully organ- 
ized the Republican party, which held its first convention 
for the nomination of President and Vice-President at 
Philadelphia, on June 17, 1856. John C. Fremont was 
nominated for President, and William L. Dayton for 
"V ice-President. Mr. Lincoln' s name was prominent be- 
fore the convention for the latter office, and on the infor- 
mal ballot he stood next to Mr. Dayton, receiving 110 
votes. Mr. Lincoln' s name headed the Republican elec- 
toral ticket in Illinois, and he took an active part in the 
canvass, but the Democrats carried the State, though 
only by a plurality vote. 

Meanwhile, Senator Douglas embraced every oppor- 
tunity to keep himself and his doctrines before the 
people, but whichever way he turned, he found his 
vigilant antagonist constantly in his front. For twenty 
years the two had been so invariably opposed to each 
other in politics, that whenever Mr. Douglas made a 
speech, the people instinctively anticipated a reply from 
Mr. Lincoln ; and there was a special Providence in thus 
opposing to the wily, deceptive sophistries of the former 
the clear, incisive common sense of the latter, which the 
multitude could not avoid comprehending. Early in 
June, 1857, Senator Douglas made his famous speech in 
Springfield, which was universally accepted as a declara- 
tion that he meant to sustain all the acts of the Lecomp- 
ton Convention, even though a pro-slavery constitution 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 47 

should Ibe formed, the responsibility for the adoption of 
which he meant to fasten upon the Republican party, 
since it was anticipated that the members of that organ- 
ization in the Territory would refrain from voting. He 
further indorsed the Dred Scott decision in this same 
speech, and, in discussing the Utah rebellion, proposed to 
end the difficulty by annulling the act establishing the 
Territory. Mr. Lincoln promptly took issue with, him 
upon all these points, in a speech also delivered at 
Springiield, twr weeks later. He declared himself in 
favor of "coercing" the people of Utah into obedience, 
and while he "did not admit or deny that the Judge's 
method of coercing them might not be as good as any," 
he showed how Mr. Douglas abandoned his principles, 
and "his much-vaunted doctrine of self-government for 
the Territories," by suggesting such a plan. He then 
defended the course of action which the Republicans in 
Kansas had adopted, and ridiculed mercilessly the myth- 
ical "Free State Democrats," of whom so much had been 
said. Next he discussed the Dred Scott decision, and 
showed that, in denouncing it, he had not gone so far as 
Mr. Douglas himself had done in applauding General 
Jackson for disregarding the decision of the same tribunal 
upon the constitutionality of the National Bank. Quoting 
from the Dred Scott decision some expressions in which 
Chief-Justice Taney intimated that the public estimate of 
the black man was more favorable then than it was in the 
days of the revolution, Mr. Lincoln replied to the impli- 
cation in the following forcible manner : — 

This assumption is a mistake. In some trifling particular? the condi- 
tion of that race has been ameliorated ; but, as a whole, in this country, 
the change between then and now is decidedly the other way ; and their 
ultimate destiny has never appeared so hopeless as in the last three or 
four years. In two of the five States — New Jersey and North Carolina — ■ 
that theu gave the free negro the right of voting, the right has since been 
taken away ; and in the third — New York — it has been greatly abridged, 
while it has not been extended, so far as I know, to a single additional 
State, though the number of the States has more than doubled. In those 
days, as 1 understand, masters could, at their own pleasure, emancipate 
their slaves ; but, since then, such legal restraints have been made upon 



48 The Life, Public Services, and 

emancipation as to amount almost to prohibition. In those days, legis- 
latures held the unquestioned power to abolish slavery in their respective 
States ; but now it is becoming quite fashionable for State constitutions 
to withhold that power from the legislatures. In those days, by com- 
mon consent, the spread of the black man's bondage to the new countries 
was prohibited; but now, Congress decides that it will not continue the 
prohibition, and the Supreme Court decides that it could not, if it would. 
In those days, our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all, 
and thought to include all ; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the 
negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked 
at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could 
not at all recognize it. All the powers of earth se<. .n rapidly combining 
against him. Mammon is after him; ambition follows, philosophy fol- 
lows, and the theology of the day is fast joining the cry. They have him 
in his prison-house ; they have searched his person, and left no prying 
instrument with him. One after another they have closed the heavy 
iron doors upon him ; and now they have him, as it were, bolted in with 
a lock of a hundred keys, which can never be unlocked without the con- 
currence of every key; the keys in the hands of a hundred different men, 
and they scattered to a hundred different and distant places ; and they 
stand musing as to what invention, in all the dominions of mind and 
matter, can bo produced to make the impossibility of his escape more 
complete than it is. 

It is grossly incorrect to say or assume that the public estimate of 
the negro is more favorable now than it was at the origin of the Govern- 
ment. 

l$o one would have been more surprised than Mr. Lin- 
coln himself, could the fact have been revealed to him, 
when uttering these words, that through him as an hum- 
ble instrument in the hands of Providence, and in the 
brief space of eight years, a vast change would be brought 
about in the status of that class, whose sufferings and 
wrongs he thus eloquently depicted. 

In this same speech Mr. Lincoln turned from the course 
of his argument for a moment, to demolish, in his charac- 
teristic manner, the absurd charge which his opponent 
had demeaned himself by repeating, that, in laboring to 
secure the negro his rights, the Republicans desired to 
place him on a complete political and social equality with 
themselves. He said : — 

There is a natural disgust, in the minds of nearly all white people, to 
the idea of an indiscriminate amalgamation of the white and black races ; 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 49 

and Judge Douglas evidently is basing his chief hope upon the chances of 
his being able to appropriate the benefit of this disgust to himself. If ho 
can, by much drumming and repeating, fasten the odium of that idea 
upon his adversaries, he thinks he can struggle through the storm. He 
therefore clings to this hope, as a drowning man to the last plank. Ho 
makes an occasion for lugging it in from the opposition to the Dred Scott 
decision. He finds the Republicans insisting that the Declaration of 
Inpependence includes all men, black as well as white, and forthwith he 
boldly denies that it includes negroes at all, and proceeds to argue gravely 
that all who contend that it does, do st> only because they want to vote, 
eat and sleep, and marry with negroes ! He will have it that they cannot 
be consistent else. Nov, I protest against the counterfeit logic which 
concludes that, because I do not want a black woman for a slave, I must, 
necessarily want her for a wife. I need not have her for either. I can 
just leave her alone. In some respects, she certainly is not my equal ; 
but in hor natural right to eat the bread she earns with her own hands, 
without asking leave of any one else, she is my equal, and the equal of 
all others. 

We have thus presented the leading points in these 
two speeches, because the discussion was the prelude to 
the famous Senatorial contest of 1858, which gave Mr. 
Lincoln a national reputation, not only as an able debater 
and eloquent orator, but as a sagacious and wise politi- 
cian—wise enough to stand inflexibly by principles of 
the soundness of which he was himself satisfied, even 
against the judgment of earnest friends. 

On the 4th of March, 1857, Mr. Buchanan had taken 
his seat in the Presidential chair. The struggle between 
freedom and slavery for the possession of Kansas was at 
its height. A few days after his inauguration, the Su- 
preme Court rendered the Dred Scott decision, which was 
thought by the friends of slavery to insure their victory, 
by its holding the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitu- 
tional, because the Constitution itself carried slavery all 
over the Territories of the United States. In spite of this 
decision, the friends of freedom in Kansas maintained 
their ground. The slaveholders, however, pushed for 
ward their schemes, and in November, 1857, their Con- 
stitutional Convention, held at Lecompton, adopted the 
Lecompton Constitution. The trick by which they sub- 
mitted to the popular vote only a schedule on the slavery 

4 



50 The Life, Public Services, and 

question, instead of the whole Constitution, compelling 
every voter, however he might vote upon this schedule, 
to vote for their Constitution, which fixed slavery upon 
the State just as surely, whether the schedule was adopted 
or not, will be well remembered, as well as the feeling 
which so unjust a device excited throughout the North. 
Judge Douglas had sustained the Dred Scott decision, but 
he could not sustain this attempt to force upon the people 
of Kansas a Constitution against their will. He took 
ground openly and boldly against it — denouncing it in 
the Senate and elsewhere as an outrage upon the people 
of Kansas, and a violation of every just Democratic prin- 
ciple. He declared that he did not care whether the 
people voted the Slavery clause "up or down," but he 
thought they ought to have the chance to vote for or 
against the Constitution itself. 

The Administration had made the measure their own, 
and this opposition of Douglas at once excited against 
him the active hostility of the slaveholders and their 
friends, with whom he had hitherto acted in concert. 
The bill was finally passed through Congress on April 
30th, 1858, under what is known as the English Bill, 
whereby the Constitution was to be submitted to the 
votes of the people of Kansas, with the offer of heavy 
bribes to them, in the way of donations of land, etc., if 
they would accept it ; and the people, in spite of the 
bribes, voted it down by an immense majority. 

Judge Douglas' s term was on the eve of expiring, and 
he came home to Illinois after the adjournment of Con- 
gress, to attend in person to the political campaign, upon 
the result of which was to depend his re-election to the 
Senate. 

His course on the Lecompton bill had made an open 
breach between him and the Administration, and he had 
rendered such good service to the Republicans, in their 
battle with that monstrous infamy, that there were not 
wanting many among them who were inclined to think it 
would be wise not to oppose his re-election. 

But the Republicans of Illinois thought otherwise. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 51 

They knew that he was not in any sense a Republican. 
They knew that on the cardinal principle of the Repub- 
lican party, opposition to the spread of Slavery into the 
Territories, he was not with them ; for he had declared 
in the most positive way that he "did not care whether 
Slavery was voted down or up." And they therefore 
determined, in opposition to the views of some influential 
Republicans, at home as well as in other States, to fight 
the battle through against him, with all the energy that 
they could bring to the work. And to this end, on the 
17th of June, 1858, at their State Convention at Spring- 
field, they nominated Mr. Lincoln as their candidate for 
the Senate of the United States. 

The circumstances we have briefly sketched invested 
the campaign about to open with national importance. 
The people of the whole Union saw that the struggle then 
initiated in Illinois must ultimately extend to other States, 
and they knew that they would soon be compelled them- 
selves to pass upon the questions there to be decided. 
None doubted that the principle of ' ' Popular Sovereignty' ' 
would be thoroughly examined, for the reputation of the 
two combatants as men of extraordinary ability was es- 
tablished. It was the universal expectation that each 
aspirant for senatorial honors would display peculiar 
caution in opening the struggle, in order to prevent the 
other from gaining any undue advantage ; but Mr. Lin- 
coln scorned every appearance of subterfuge or evasion. 
His opinions had become sharply defined and clearly 
crystallized during the contests through which he had 
passed in the years preceding, and in his speech to the 
Convention which nominated him, signifying his accept- 
ance of the honor conferred upon him, he expressed him- 
self so unreservedly and frankly that even his supporters 
were for the moment startled. 

In a speech delivered at Chicago, July 9, — the first 
after Mr. Lincoln's nomination, — Senator Douglas alluded 
to this address as having been ' ' well prepared and care- 
fully written." In reply, Mr. Lincoln said, "Gentlemen, 
Judge Douglas informed you that this speech of mine 



02 The Life, Public Services, and 

"was probably carefully prepared, I admit that it was. 
I am not a master of language. I have not a tine educa- 
tion ; I am not capable of entering into a disquisition 
upon dialectics, as I believe you call it." In the address 
thus alluded to, Mr. Lincoln struck the key-note of the 
campaign. Its exposition of his political creed, and his 
statement of the important points at issue, is so succinct 
and complete that we reproduce it here. It is as fol- 
lows : — 

Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Contention : — If we could 
first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better 
judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year 
since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident prom- 
ise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that 
policy that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augment- 
ed. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached 
and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe 
this Government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do 
not expect the Union to be dissolved, I do not expect the house to fall, 
but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, 
or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further 
spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief 
that it is in the course of ultimate extinction ; or its advocates will push 
it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as 
new, Xorth as well as South. 

Have we no tendency to the latter condition ? 

Let any one who doubts carefully contemplate that now almost com 
plete legal combination — piece of machinery, so to speak — compounded 
of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision. Let him consider 
not only what work the machinery is adapted to do, and how well adapt- 
ed ; but also let him study the history of its construction, and trace, if he 
can, or rather fail, if he can, to trace, the evidences of design and concert 
of action among its chief architects from the beginning. 

The new year of 1854 found slavery excluded from more than half the 
States by State Constitutions, and from most of the national territory by 
Congressional prohibition. Four days later commenced the struggle 
which ended in repealing that Congressional prohibition. This opened 
all the national territory to slavery, and was the first point gained. 

But so far Congress only had acted ; and an indorsement by the people, 
real or apparent, was indispensable, to save the point already gained and 
give chance for more. 

This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been provided for, as 
well as might be, in the notable argument of "squatter sovereignty, '' 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 53 

otherwise called " sacred right of self-government ;" which latter phrase, 
though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was so 
perverted in this attempted use of it as to amount to just this : That if 
any one man choose to enslave another, no third man shall be allowed to 
object. That argument was incorporated into the Nebraska bill itself, in 
the language which follows: "It being the true intent and meaning of 
this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to 'exclude 
it therefrom ; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and 
regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the 
Constitution of the United States." Then opened the roar of loose decla- 
mation in favor of "squatter sovereignty," and "sacred right of self-gov- 
ernment." "But," said opposition members, "let us amend the bill so 
as to expressly declare that the people of the Territory may exclude 
slavery." "Not we," said the friends of the measure; and down they 
voted the amendment. 

While the Nebraska bill was passing through Congress, a law-case, in- 
volving the question of a negro's freedom, by reason of his owner having 
voluntarily taken him first into a free State and then into a Territory cov- 
ered by the Congressional prohibition, and held him as a slave for a long 
time in each, was passing through the United States Circuit Court for tho 
District of Missouri ; and both Nebraska bill and lawsuit were brought 
to a decision in the same month of May, 18o4. The negro's name was 
" Dred Scott," which name now designates the decision finally made in 
the case. Before the then next presidential election, the law-case camo 
to, and was argued in, the Supreme Court of the United States; but the 
decision of it was deferred until after the election. Still, before the elec- 
tion, Senator Trumbull, on the floor of the Senate, requested the leading 
advocate of the Nebraska bill to state his opinion whether the people of a 
Territory can constitutionally exclude slavery from their limits; and tho 
latter answers: "That is a question for the Supreme Court. 1 ' 

The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the indorsement, 
Buch as it was. secured. That was the second point gained. The in- 
dorsement, however, fell short of a clear popular majority by nearly 
four hundred thousand votes, and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly 
reliable and satisfactory. The outgoing president, in his last annual 
message, as impressively as possible echoed back upon the people tho 
weight and authority of the indorsement. The Supreme Court met again ; 
did not announce their decision, but ordered a re-argument. The presi- 
dential inauguration came, and still no decision of the court ; but the 
incoming President, in his inaugural address, fervently exhorted the 
people to abide by the forthcoming decision, whatever it might be. 
Then, in a few days, came the decision. 

The reputed author of the Nebraska bill finds an early occasion to make 
a speech at this capital, indorsing the Dred Scott decision, and vehemently 
denouncing all opposition to it. The new president, too, seizes the earlv 



54 The Life, Public Services, and 

occasion of the Silliman letter to indorse and strongly construe that 
decision, and to express his astonishment that any different view had 
ever been entertained. 

At length a squabble springs up between the President and the author 
of the Nebraska bill, on the mere question of fact, whether the Lecomp- 
ton Constitution was or was not, in any just sense, made by the people 
of Kansas ; and in that quarrel the latter declares that all he wants is a 
fair vote for the people, and that he cares not whether slave-y be voted 
down or voted up. I do not understand his declaration that he cares not 
whether slavery be voted down or voted up, to be intended by him other 
than as an apt definition of the policy he would impress upon the public 
mind— the principle for which he declares he has suffered so much, and 
is ready to suffer to the end. And well may he cling to that principle. If 
he has any parental feeling, well may he cling to it. That principle is the 
only shred left of his original Nebraska doctrine. Under the Dred Scott 
decision " squatter sovereignty" squatted out of existence, tumbled down, 
like temporary scaffolding — like the mould at the foundry served through 
one blast and fell back into loose sand — helped to carry an election, and 
then was kicked to the winds. His late joint struggle with the Republi- 
cans, against the Lecompton Constitution, involves nothing of the origi- 
nal Nebraska doctrine. That struggle was made on a point — the right of 
a people to make their own constitution — upon which he and the Repub- 
licans have never differed. 

The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection with Sena- 
tor Douglas's "care not" policy, constitute the piece of machinery, in its 
present state of advancement. This was the third point gained. The 
working points of that machinery are : — 

First. That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no 
descendant of such slave, can ever be a citizen of any State, in the sense of 
that term as used in the Constitution of the United States. This point is 
made in order to deprive the negro, in every possible event, of the benefit 
of that provision of the United States Constitution, which declares that 
"The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 'privileges and immuni- 
ties of citizens in the several States." 

Secondly. That, "subject to the Constitution of the United States," 
neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can exclude slavery from 
any United States territory. This point is made in order that individual 
men may fill up the Territories with slaves without danger of losing them 
as property, and thus to enhance the chances of permanency to the insti- 
tution through all the future. 

Thirdly. That whether the holding a negro in actual slavery in a free 
State makes him free, as against the holder, the United States courts will 
not decide, but will leave to be decided by the courts of any slave State 
the negro may be forced into by the master. This point is made, not to 
be pressed immediately ; but, if acquiesced in for awhile, and apparently 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 55 

indorsed by the people at an election, then to sustain the logical conclu- 
sion that what Dred Scott's master might lawfully do with Dred Scott, 
in the free State of Illinois, every other master may lawfully do with 
any othei one, or one thousand slaves, in Illinois, or in any other, free 
State. 

Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, the Nebraska 
doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and mould public opinion, at 
^east Northern public opinion, not to care whether slavery is voted down 
or voted up. This shows exactly where we now are; and partially, also, 
whither we are tending. 

It will throw additional light on the latter, to go back, and run tho 
mind over the string of historical facts already stated. Several things 
will now appear less dark and mysterious than they did when they were 
transpiring. The people were to be left "perfectly free," "subject only 
to the Constitution." AVhat the Constitution had to do with it, outsiders 
could not then see. Plainly enough now, it was an exactly fitted niche 
for the Dred Scott decision to afterward come in, and declare the perfect 
freedom of the people to be just no freedom at all. "Why was the amend- 
ment, expressly declaring the right of the people, voted down? Plainly 
enough now : the adoption of it would have spoiled the niche for the 
Dred Scctt decision. "Why was the court decision held up? "Why even 
a Senator's individual opinion withheld till after the presidential election? 
Plainly enough now: the speaking out then would have damaged the 
perfectly free argument upon which the election was to be carried. "Why 
the outgoing President's felicitation on the indorsement? "Why the delay 
of a re-argument? Why the incoming President's advance exhortation in 
favor of the decision ? These things look like the cautious, patting and 
petting of a spirited horse preparatory to mounting him, when it is 
dreaded that he may give the rider a fall. And why the hasty after- 
indorsement of the decision by the President and others ? 

"We cannot absolutely know that all these exact adaptations are the 
result of preconcert. But when we see a lot of framed timbers, different 
portions of which we know have been gotten out at different times and 
places, and by different workmen — Stephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, 
for instance — and when we see these timbers joined together, and seo 
they exactly make the frame of a house or a mill, all the tenons and 
mortices exactly fitting, and all the lengths and proportions of the differ- 
ent pieces exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too 
many or too few- — not omitting even scaffolding — or, if a single piece be 
lacking, we see the place in the frame exactly fitted and prepared yet to 
bring such piece in— in such a case, we find it impossible not to believe 
that Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James all understood one 
another from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or 
draft drawn up before the first blow was struck. 

Tt should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people of a 



56 The Life, Public Services, and 

State, as well as Territory, were to be left "perfectly free," "subject 
only to the Constitution." Why mention a State ? They were legislating 
for Territories, and not for or about States. Certainly, the people of a 
State are and ought to be subject to the Constitution of the United 
States; but why is mention of this lugged into this merely territorial 
law? Why are the people of a Territory and the people of a State 
therein lumped together, and their relation to the Constitution therein 
treated as being precisely the same? While the opinion of the court, by 
Chief-Justice Taney, in the Dred Scott case, and the separate opinions of 
all the concurring Judges, expressly declare that the Constitution of the 
United States neither permits Congress nor a territorial legislature to 
exclude shivery from any United States Territory, they all omit to declare 
whether or not the same Constitution permits a State, or the people of a 
State, to exclude it. Possibly, this is a mere omission; but who can be 
quite sure, if McLean or Curtis had sought to get into the opinion a 
declaration of unlimited power in the people of a State to exclude slavery 
from their limits, just as Chase and Mace sought to get such declara- 
tion, in behalf of the people of a Territory, into the Nebraska bid; — 1 
ask, who can be quite sure that it would not have been voted down in 
the one case, as it had been in the other ? The nearest approach to the 
point of declaring the power of a State over slavery, is made by Judge 
Nelson, lie approaches it more than once, using the precise idea, and 
almost the language, too, of the Nebraska act. On one occasion, his 
exact language is, "except in cases where the power is restrained by the 
Constitution of the United States, the law of the State is supreme over 
the subject of slavery within its jurisdiction." In what cases the power 
of the States is so restrained by the United States Constitution, is left an 
open question, precisely as the same question, as to the restraint on the 
power of the Territories, was left open in the Nebraska act. Put this 
and that together, and we have another nice little niche, which we may, 
ere long, see filled with another Supreme Court decision, declaring that 
the Constitution of the United States does not permit a State to exclude 
slavery from its limits. And this may especially be expected, if the doc- 
trine of "care not whether slavery be voted down or voted up," shall 
gain upon the public mind sufficiently to give promise that such a decision 
can be maintained when made. 

Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being alike lawful in 
all the States. Welcome or unwelcome, such decision is probably 
coming, and will soon be upon us, unless the power of the present politi- 
cal dynasty shall be met and overthrown. We shall lie down pleasantly 
dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their 
State free, and we shall awake to the reality instead, that the Supreme 
Court has made Illinois a slave State. To meet and overthrow the power 
of that dynasty, is the work now before all those who would prevent 
thai, consummation. That is what we have to do. How can we best do it? 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 57 

There are those who denounce us openly to their own friends, and yet. 
whisper us softly, that Senator Douglas is the aptest instrument there is 
with which to effect that object. They wish us to infer all, from the 
fact that he now has a little quarrel with the present head of the dynasty ; 
and that he has regularly voted with us on a single point, upon which he 
and we have never differed. They remind us that he is a great man, and 
that the largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But "a 
living dog is better than a dead lion." Judge Douglas, if not a dead lion, 
for this work, is at least a caged and toothless one. How can he oppose 
the advances of slavery? He don't care anything about it. Bis avowed 
mission is impressing the "public heart" to care nothing about it. A 
leading Douglas democratic newspaper thinks Douglas's superior talent 
wilL be needed to resist the revival of the African slave-trade. Does 
Douglas believe an effort to revive that trade is approaching? He 
has not said so. Does he really think so? But if it is, how can he resist 
it ? For years he has labored to prove it a sacred right of white men to 
take negro slaves into the new Territories. Can he possibly show that it 
is less a sacred right to buy them where they can be bought cheapest? 
And unquestionably they can be bought cheaper in Africa than in Vir- 
ginia. He has done all in his power to reduce the whole question of 
slavery to one of a mere right of property; and as such, how can he op- 
pose the foreign slave-trade — how can he refuse that trade in that " prop- 
erty" shall be " perfectly free" — unless he does it as a protection to the 
home production ? And as the home producers will probably not ask the 
protection, he will be wholly without a ground of opposition. 

Senator DoMglas holds, we know, that a man may rightfully be wiser 
to-day than he was yesterday — that he may rightfully change when he 
finds himself wrong. But can we, for that reason, run ahead, and infer 
that he will make any particular change, of which he himself has given 
no intimation? Can we safely base our action upon any such vague in- 
ference? Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas's 
position, question his motives, or do aught that can be personally offen- 
sive to him. Whenever, if ever, he and we can come together on princi- 
ple, so that our cause may have assistance from his great ability, I hope 
to have interposed no adventitious obstacle. But, clearly, he is not now 
with us — he does not pretend to be — he does not promise ever to be. 

Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted by, its own 
undoubted friends — those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the 
work — who do care for the result. Two years ago, the Republicans of 
the nation mustered over thirteen hundred thousand strong. We did 
this under the single impulse of resistance to a common danger, with 
every external circumstance against us. Of strange, discordant, and 
even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and 
fought the battle through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, 
proud, and pampered enemy. Did we brave all then, to falter now ?- - 



58 The Life, Public Services, and 



, x. wmv ^^j.vv iv,^, 



now, when that same enemy «s wavering, dissevered, and belligerent? 
The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail — if we stand firm, Ave shall 
not fail. Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it; but, soonei 
or later, the victory is sure to come. 

The first paragraph of this speech has become famous 
in our political history, and the whole address, with its 
bold utterance of truths which many, even of Mr. Lin- 
coln's supporters, did not at that time care to face, was a 
fitting prelude to the great contest which was to follow. 
Although, as its author admitted, it had been carefully 
prepared, he had not consulted with any of his friends 
regarding it, and none of them, even those with whom he 
was the most intimate, knew of the positions which he 
intended to take, until they heard them enunciated from 
the platform in Springfield, on that memorable June 17. 
Three weeks later (July 9), Senator Douglas arrived in 
Chicago, where his friends welcomed him with the most 
ostentatious demonstrations. On the same day he made 
a speech, reviewing Mr. Lincoln's address to the Spring- 
field Convention. He spoke of Mr. Lincoln as "a kind, 
amiable, and intelligent gentleman, a good citizen and an 
honorable opponent," and then proceeded to reply to 
the speech in question, assuming a tone of superiority 
almost amounting to superciliousness. He was especially 
severe upon the introductory passage of Mr. Lincoln's 
address, in which he asserted his belief that the Govern- 
ment could not endure half slave and half free. Mr. 
Lincoln was himself present during the delivery of 
Senator Douglas's speech, and on the next evening took 
occasion to reply to it before an immense assemblage, 
specially convened for that purpose. After a few intro- 
ductory remarks, Mr. Lincoln thus alluded to the famous 
phrase which had become the watch-word of the Demo- 
cratic party for the camymign : — 

Popular sovereignty! everlasting popular sovereignty! Let us for a 
moment inquire into this vast matter of popular sovereignty. What is 
popular sovereignty? We recollect that at an early period in the history 
of this struggle, there was another name for the same thing— Squatter 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 59 

Sovereignty. It was not exactly Popular Sovereignty, but Squatter 
Sovereignty. What do those terms mean? What do those terms mean 
when used now ? And vast credit is taken by our friend, the Judge, in 
regard to his support of it, when he declares the last years of his life have 
been, and all the future years of his life shall be, devoted to this matter 
of popular sovereignty. What is it? Why, it is the sovereignty of the 
people! What was Squatter Sovereignty? I suppose, if it had any sig- 
nificance at all, it was the right of the people to govern themselves, to be 
sovereign in their own affairs, while they were squatted down in a 
country not their own — while they had squatted on a Territory that did 
not belong to them, in the sense that a State belongs to the people who 
inhabit it — when it belonged to the nation — such right to govern them- 
selves was called " Squatter Sovereignty." 

jSTow I wish you to mark. What has become of that Squatter Sover- 
eignty ? What has become of it ? Can you get anybody to tell you now 
that the people of a Territory have any authority to govern themselves, 
in regard to this mooted question of slavery, before they form a State 
Constitution? No such thing at all, although there is a general running 
fire, and although there has been a*hurrah made in every speech on that 
side, assuming that policy had given the people of a Territory the right 
to govern themselves upon this question ; yet the point is dodged. To- 
day it has been decided — no more than a year ago it was decided by the 
Supreme Court of the United States, and is insisted upon to-day, that the 
people of a Territory have no right to exclude slavery from a Territory, 
that if any one man chooses to take slaves into a Territory, all the rest 
of the people have no right to keep them out. This being so, and this 
decision being made one of the points that the Judge approved, and one 
in the approval of which he says he means to keep me down — put me 
down I should not say, for I have never been up. He says he is in favor 
of it, and sticks to it, and expects to win his battle on that decision, 
which says that there is no such thing as Squatter Sovereignty; but that 
any one man may take slaves into a Territory, and all the other men in 
the Territory may be opposed to it, and yet by reason of the Constitution 
they cannot prohibit it. When that is so, how much is left of this vast 
matter of Squatter Sovereignty, I should like to know ? 

The Lecompton Constitution and its fate were next dis- 
cussed, and then Mr. Lincoln proceeded to reply to the 
inferences which his opponent had so characteristically 
"but unwarrantably drawn from the introductory para- 
graph of his Springfield speech. He said : 

In this paragraph which I have quoted in your hearing, and to which I 
ask the attention of all, Judge Douglas thinks he discovers great political 



60 The Life, Public Services, and 

heresy. I want your attention particularly to what he has inferred from 
it. He says I am in favor of making all the States of this Union uniform 
in all their internal regulations; that in all their domestic concerns I am 
in favor of making them entirely uniform. He draws this inference from 
the language I have quoted to you. He says that I am in favor of making 
war by the North upon the South for the extinction of slavery; that I am 
also in favor of inviting (as he expresses it) the South to a war upon the 
North, for the purpose of nationalizing slavery. Now, it is singular enough, 
if you will carefully read that passage over, that I did not say that I was in 
favor of any tiling in it. I only said what I expected would take place. I 
made a prediction only. — it may have been a foolish one, perhaps. I did 
not even say that I desired that slavery should be put in course of ulti- 
mate extinction. I do say so now, however, so there need be no longer 
any difficulty about that. It may be written down in the great speech. 

Gentlemen. Judge Douglas informed you that this speech of mine was 
probably carefully prepared. I admit that it was. I am not master of 
language; I have not a fine education; I am not capable of entering into 
a disquisition upon dialectics, as I believe you call it; but I do r t believe 
the language I employed bears any*such construction as J ..age Douglas 
puts upon it. But I don't care about a quibble in regard to words. I 
know what I meant, and I will not leave this crowd in doubt, if I can 
explain it to them, what I really meant in the use of that paragraph. 

I am not, in the first place, unaware that this Government has endured 
eighty-two years half slave and half free. I know that. I am tolerably 
well acquainted with the history of the country, and I know that it has 
endured eighty-two years, half slave and half free. I believe — and that is 
what I meant to allude to there — I believe it has endured, because during 
all that time, until the introduction of the Nebraska bill, the public mind 
did rest all the time in the belief that slavery was in course of ultimate 
extinction. That was what gave us the rest that we had through that 
period of eighty-two years; at least, so I believe. I have always hated 
slavery, I think, as much as any Abolitionist — I have been an Old Line 
Whig — I have always hated it, but I have always been quiet about it un- 
til this new era of the introduction of the Nebraska bill began. I always 
believed that everybody was against it, and that it was in course of ulti- 
mate extinction. [Pointing to Mr. Browning, who stood near by.] 
Browning thought so; the great mass of the nation have rested in the 
belief that slavery was in course of ultimate extinction. They had 
reason so to believe. 

The adoption of the Constitution and its attendant history led the 
people to believe so; and that such was the belief of the framers of the 
Constitution itself, why did those old men, about the time of the adoption 
of the Constitution, decree that slavery should not go into the new Terri- 
tory, where it had not already gone? Why declare that within twenty 
years the African Slave Trade, by which slaves are supplied, might be cut 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 61 

off by Congress? Why were all these acts? I might enumerate more 
of these acts — but enough. What were they but a clear indication that 
the trainers of the Constitution intended and expected the ultimate ex- 
tinction of that institution? And now, when I say, as I said in my speech 
that Judge Douglas has quoted from, when I say that I think the oppo- 
nents of slavery will resist the farther spread of it, and place it where the 
public mind shall rest with the belief that it is in course of ultimate ex- 
tinction, I only mean to say, that they will place it where the founders 
of this Government originally placed it. 

I have said a hundred times, and I have now no inclination to take it 
back, that I believe there is no right, and ought to be no inclination in 
the people of the free States to enter into the slave States, and interfere 
with the question of slavery at all. I have s..id that always; Judge 
Douglas has heard me say it — if not quite a handred times, at least as 
good as a hundred times; and when it is said that I am in favor of 
interfering with slavery where it exists, I know it is unwarranted by 
any thing I have ever intended, and, as 1 believe, by any thing I have ever 
said. If, by any means, I have ever used language which could fairly be 
so construed (as, however, I believe I never have), I now correct it. 

So much, then, fur the inference that Judge Douglas draws, that I am 
in favor of setting the sections at war with one another. I know that 
I never meant any such thing, and I believe that no fair mind can infer 
any such thing from any thing I have ever said. 



These speeches in Chicago and those that had preceded 
them made it evident that the struggle was to take the 
shape of a personal contest between the two men, and in 
every respect, — physically, mentally, and politically, — ■ 
they were thoroughly antagonistic to each other. Each, 
moreover, recognized the other as the embodiment of 
principles to which he was in deadly hostility. Judge 
Douglas was the champion of all sympathizers with 
slavery at the North — of those who openly advocated it, 
and still more of those who took the more plausible and 
dangerous part of not caring whether it ' ' was voted down 
or up." Mr. Lincoln's soul was on fire with love for 
freedom and for humanity, and with reverence for the 
Fathers of the country, and for the principles of freedom 
for all, under the light of which they marched. He felt 
that the contest was no mere local one ; that it was com- 
paratively of little consequence which man succeeded in 



62 The Life, Public Services, and 

the figlit, but that it was all-important that the banner of 
freedom should be borne with no faltering step, but "full 
high advanced." And thus through the whole campaign 
he sought with all his power to press home to the hearts 
of the people the principles, the example, and the teach- 
ings of the men of the Revolution. 

At the time of the delivery of the speeches in Chicago, 
to which we have already alluded, there was no under- 
standing regarding joint discussions. One week later, how- 
ever, both spoke in Springfield on the same day, but be- 
fore different audi Alices ; and one week later, Mr. Lincoln 
addressed a letter to Douglas, challenging him to a series 
of debates during the campaign. 

The challenge was accepted, and arrangements were at 
once made for the meetings. The terms proposed by Mr. 
Douglas — whether intentionally or unintentionally does 
not appear — were such as to give him the decided advan- 
tage of having four opening and closing speeches to Mr, 
Lincoln's three ; but Mr. Lincoln, while noticing the in- 
equality, did not hesitate to accept them. 

The seven joint debates were held as follows :— at Ot- 
tawa, on August 21st; at Freeport, on August 27th; at 
Jonesboro, on September 15th ; at Charleston, on Septem- 
ber 18th ; at Galesburg, on October 7th ; at Quincy, on Oc- 
tober 13th ; at Alton, on October 15th. These seven tour- 
naments raised the greatest excitement throughout the 
State. They were held in all quarters of the State, from 
Freeport in the north to Jonesboro in the extreme south. 
Everywhere the different parties turned out to do honor 
to their champions. Processions and cavalcades, bands of 
music and cannon-firing, made every day a day of excite- 
ment. But far greater was the excitement of such orator- 
ical contests between two such skilled debaters, before 
mixed audiences of friends and foes, to rejoice over every 
keen thrust at the adversary, to be cast down b}^ each 
failure to parry the thrust so aimed. It is impossible to 
present here any thing more than the barest sketch of 
these great efforts of Mr. Lincoln. They are, and always 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 63 

will be, to those who are interested in the history of the 
slavery contest, most valuable and important documents. 
In the first of these joint debates, which took place at 
Ottawa, Mr. Douglas again rung the changes upon the 
introductory passage of Mr. Lincoln's Springfield speech, 
." a house divided against itself," etc. Mr. Lincoln reitera- 
ted his assertion, and defended it in effect, as he did 
in his speech at Chicago. Then' lie took up the charge 
which he had previously made, of the existence of a con- 
spiracy to extend slavery over the Northern States, and 
pressed it home, citing as proof a speech which Mr. 
Douglas himself had made on the Lecompton bill, in 
which he had substantially made the same charge against 
Buchanan and others. He then showed again, that 
all that was necessary for the accomplishment of the 
scheme was a decision of the Supreme Court that no 
State could exclude slavery, as the court had already de- 
cided that no Territory could exclude it, and the acquies- 
cence of the peoj)le in such a decision ; and he told, his 
hearers that Douglas was doing all in his power to bring 
about such acquiescence in advance, by declaring that 
the true position was, not to care whether slavery "was 
voted down or up," and by announcing himself in favor 
^f the Dred Scott decision, not because it wa s right, but 
because a decision of the court is to him a "Thus saith 
the Lord,"' and thus committing himself to the next de- 
cision just as firmly as to this. He closed his speech with 
the following eloquent words : — 

Henry Clay, my beau-ideal of a statesman, the man for whom I fought 
all my humble life — Henry Clay once said of a class of men who would 
repress all tendencies to liberty and ultimate emancipation, that they 
must, if they would do this, go back to the era of our independence, and 
muzzle the cannon which thunders its annual joyous return ; they must 
blow out the moral lights around us ; they must penetrate the human 
soul, and eradicate there the love of liberty ; and then, and not till tben, 
could tbey perpetuate slavery in this country ! To my thinking, Judge 
Douglas is, by his example and vast influence, doing that very thing in 
this community, when be says that the negro has nothing in the Declara- 
tion of Independence. Henry Clay plainly understood the contrary 



64 The Life, Public Services, and 

Judge Douglas is going back to the era of our Revolution, and, to the ex- 
tent of his ability, muzzling the cannon which thunders its annual joyous 
return. When he invites any people, willing to have slavery, to establish 
it, he is blowing out the moral lights around us. When he says, he " cares 
not whether slavery is voted down or voted up," — that it is a sacred 
right of self-government,— he is, in my judgment, penetrating the human 
bouI, and eradicating the light of reason and the love of liberty in this 
American people. And now I will only say, that when, by all these 
means and appliances, Judge Douglas shall succeed in bringing public sen- 
timent to an exact accordance with his own views — when these vast as- 
semblages shall echo back all these sentiments — when they shall come to 
repeat his views and to avow his principles, and to say all that he says on 
these mighty questions — then it needs only the formality of the second 
Dred Scott decision, which he indorses in advance, to make slavery alike 
lawful in all the States — old as well as new, North as well as South. 

The debate at Freeport — the second of the series — took 
place August 27, and was marked by Mr. Lincoln answer- 
ing a series of seven questions proposed by his opponent. 
We give the interrogatories and the replies, as follows : 

Question 1. I desire to know whether Lincoln to-day stands, as he did 
in 1854, in favor of the unconditional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law ? 

Answer. I do not now, nor ever did, stand in favor of the uncondi- 
tional repeal of the Fugitive Slave law. 

Q. 2. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to-day, as he 
did in 1854, against the admission of any more slave States into the Union, 
even if the people want them ? « 

A. I do not now, or ever did, stand pledged against the admission of 
any more slave Status into the Union. 

Q. 3. I want to know whether he stands pledged against the admis- 
sion of a new State into the Union with such a Constitution as the people 
of that State may see fit to make ? 

A. I do not stand pledged against the admission of a new State into 
the Union, with such a Constitution as the people of that State may see 
fit to make. 

Q. 4. I want to know whether he stands to-day pledged to the aboli- 
tion of slavery in the District of Columbia? 

A. I do not stand to-day pledged to the abolition of slavery in the 
District of Columbia. 

Q. 5. I desire him to answer whether he stands pledged to the pro- 
hibition of the slave-trade between the different States? 

A. I do not stand pledged to the prohibition of the slave-trade bo 
tween the different States. 

Q. 6. 1 desire to know whether he stands pledged to prohibit slaverj 



1 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 65 

in all the Territories of the United States, North as well as South of the 
Missouri Compromise line ? 

A. I am impliedly, if not expressly, pledged to a belief in the right 
and duty of Congress to prohibit slavery in all the United States Terri- 
tories. 

Q. 7. I desire him to answer whether he is opposed to the acquisition 
of any new territory unless slavery is first prohibited therein ? 

A. I am not generally opposed to honest acquisition of territory; and, 
in any given case, I would or would not oppose such acquisition, accord- 
ingly as I might think such acquisition would or would not aggravate tho 
slavery question among ourselves. 

Before answering these questions, Mr. Lincoln notified 
Mr. Douglas that he should insist upon the right to pro- 
pound an equal number to him, if he desired to do so, 
and "before closing submitted these four interrogatories : 

Question 1. If the people of Kansas shall, by means entirely unob ■ 
jectionable in all other respects, adopt a State Constitution, and ask 
admission into the Union under it, before they have the requisite number 
of inhabitants according to the English bill — some ninety-three thousand 
— will you vote to admit them ? 

Q. 2. Can the people of a United States Territory, in any lawful way, 
against the wish of any citizen of the United States, exclude slavery from 
its limits prior to the formation of a State Constitution ? 

Q. 3. If the Supreme Court of the United States shall decide that 
States cannot exclude slavery from their limits, are you in favor of ac- 
quiescing in, adopting, and following such decision as a rule of political 
action ? 

Q. 4. Are you in favor of acquiring additional territory, in disregard 
of how such acquisition may affect the nation on the slavery question? 

To these questions he received, as he undoubtedly ex- 
pected, only evasive replies. He also, in the course of 
the debate, pressed home upon his opponent a charge of 
quoting resolutions as having been adopted at a Repub- 
lican State Convention which were never so adopted, and 
again called Douglas's attention to the conspiracy to 
nationalize slavery, and showed that his pretended desire 
to leave the people of a Territory free to establish slavery 
or exclude it, was really only a desire to allow them to 
establish it, as was shown by his voting against Mr, 



6G The Life, Public Services, and 

Chase's amendment to the Nebraska "bill, which gave 
the leave to exclude it. 

In the third debate, which took place at Jonesboro, Mr. 
Lincoln showed that Douglas and his friends were trying 
to change the position of the country on the slavery 
question from what it was when the Constitution was 
adopted, and that the disturbance of the country had 
arisen from this pernicious effort. He then cited from 
Democratic speeches and platforms of former days to 
prove that they occupied then the very opposite ground 
on the question from that which was taken at the time he 
was speaking. He also brought out in strong relief the 
evasive character of Douglas's answers to the questions 
which he had proposed, especially the subterfuge of ' ' un- 
friendly legislation," which he had set forth as the means 
by which the people of a Territory could exclude slavery 
from its limits in spite of the Dred Scott decision. 

It is a noteworthy fact that when Mr. Lincoln was pre- 
paring these questions for Douglas, he was urged by some 
of his friends not to corner him on this last point, because 
he would surely stand by his doctrine of Squatter Sov- 
ereignty in defiance of the Dred Scott decision, "and 
that," said they, "will make him Senator." "That may 
be," said Mr. Lincoln, with a twinkle in his eye, " but if 
he takes that shoot he never can be President." 

Mr. Lincoln's sagacity did not fail him here. This posi- 
tion which Douglas took of "unfriendly legislation," 
was a stumbling-block which he was never able to get 
over ; and if the contest between them had brought out 
. no other good result, the compelling Douglas to take this 
ground was a most important point gained. 

In the fourth joint debate at Charleston, Mr. Lincoln 
brought forward and spoke at length upon the evidence 
of a charge previously made by Judge Trumbull against 
Douglas, of being himself reponsible for a clause in the 
Kansas bill which would have deprived the people of 
Kansas of the right to vote upon their own Constitution. 

He stated this point as follows : 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G7 

The bill that went into his (Mr. Douglas's) hands had the provision in it 
for a submission of the Constitution to the people ; and I say its language 
amounts to an express provision for a submission, and that he took the 
provision out. He says it was known that the bill was silent in this 
particular; but I say, Judge Douglas, it was not silent when you got it. 
It was vocal with the declaration, when you got it, for a submission of 
the Constitution to the people. And now, my direct question to Judge 
Douglas is, to answer why, if he deemed the bill silent on this point, he 
found it necessary to strike out those particular harmless words. If he 
had found the bill silent and without this provision, he might say what 
he does now. If he supposes it was implied that the Constitution would 
be submitted to a vote of the people, how could these two lines so en- 
cumber the statute as to make it necessary to strike them out ? How 
could ha infer that a submission was still implied, after its express provi- 
sion had been stricken from the bill ? I find the bill vocal with the pro- 
vision, w hile he silenced it. He took it out, and although he took out 
the other provision preventing a submission to a vote of the people, I ask, 
why did you first put it in? I ask him whether he took the original 
provision out, which Trumbull alleges was in the bill ? If he admits that he 
did take it out, I ash him what he did it for? It looks to us as if he had 
altered the bill. If it looks differently to him— if he has a different reason 
for his action from the one we assign him — he can tell it. I insist upon 
knowing wby he made the bill silent upon that point, when it was vocal 
before he put his hands upon it. 

Mr. Douglas, it is needless to say, could not parry this 
home thrust. In his efforts to do so (for Mr. Lincoln gave 
him several opportunities subsequently to explain his 
position), he invariably lost his temper. 

In view of the discussions now in progress in many 
parts of the country, the following passage from Mr. Lin- 
coln's final rejoinder to Mr. Douglas, in this debate at 
Charleston, possesses peculiar interest. 

Judge Douglas has said to you that he has not been able to get from 
me an answer to the question whether I am in favor of negro citizenship. 
So far as I know, the Judge never asked me the question before. He 
6hall have no occasion to ever ask it again, for I tell him very frankly 
that I am not in favor of negro citizenship. This furnishes me an occa- 
sion for saying a few words upon the subject. I mentioned in a certain 
speech of mine which has been printed, that the Supreme Court had 
decided that a negro could not possibly be made a citizen; and with- 
out saying what was my gronnd of complaint in regard to that, or 
whether I had any ground of complaint, Judge Douglas has from that 



68 The Life, Public Services, and 

thing manufactured nearly every thing that he ever says ahout my dispo- 
sition to produce an equality between the negroes and the white people. 
If any one will read my speech, he will find I mentioned that as one of 
the points decided in the course of the Supreme Court opinions, but I did 
not state what objection I had to it. But Judge Douglas tells the people 
what my objection was, when I did not tell them myself. Now my opinion 
is that the different States have the power to make a negro a citizen under 
the Constitution of tho United States, if they choose. The Dred Scott 
decision decides that they have not that power. If the State of Illinois 
had that power I should be opposed to the exercise of it. That is all I 
have to say about it. 

In the fifth joint debate, that at Galesburg, Mr. Lincoln 
defended the Republican party from the charge of being 
sectional, and in the course of his speech he thus pointedly 
sketched the difference between the supporters of Mr. 
Douglas and their opponents, as regarded the manner in 
which they respectively looked upon the free and slave 
States : — 

The Judge tells, in proceeding, that he is opposed to making any odious 
distinctions between free and slave States. I am altogether unaware that 
the Republicans are in favor of making any odious distinctions between 
the free and slave States. But there still is a difference, I think, between 
Judge Douglas and the Republicans in this. I suppose that the real dif- 
ference between Judge Douglas and his friends, and the Republicans on 
the contrary, is, that the Judge is not in favor of making any difference 
between slavery and liberty — that he is in favor of eradicating, of pressing 
out of view, the questions of preference in this country for free or slave 
institutions; and consequently every sentiment he utters discards the idea 
that there is any .wrong in slavery. Every thing that emanates from him 
or his coadjutors in their course of policy, carefully excludes the thought 
that there is any thing wrong in slavery. All their arguments, if you 
will consider them, will be seen to exclude the thought that there is any 
thing whatever wrong in slavery. If you will take the Judge's speeches, 
and select the short and pointed sentences expressed by him — as his 
declaration that he " don't care whether slavery is voted up or down" — 
you will see at once that this is perfectly logical, if you do not admit that 
slavery is wrong. If you do admit that it is wrong, Judge Douglas cannot 
logically say he don't caro whether a wrong is voted up or voted down. 
Judge Douglas declares that if any community want slavery they have a 
right to have it. He can say that logically, if he says that there is no 
wrong in slavery ; but if you admit that there is a wrong in it, he cannot 
logically say that anybody has a right to do wrong. He insists that, 
upon the score of equality, the owners of slaves and the owners of property 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln - . 69 

« — of horses and every other sort of property — should be alike, and hold 
them alike in a new Territory. That is perfectly logical, if the two 
species of property are alike, and are equally founded in right. But if you 
admit that one of them is wrong, you cannot institute any equality be- 
tween right and wrong. And from this difference of sentiment — the belief 
on the part of one that the institution is wrong, and a policy springing 
from that belief which looks to the arrest of the enlargement of that 
wrong ; and this other sentiment, that it is no wrong, and a policy sprung 
from that sentiment which will tolerate no idea of preventing that wrong 
from growing larger, and looks to there never being an end of it through 
all the existence of things — arises the real difference between Judge 
Douglas and his friends on the one hand, and the Eepublicans on the 
other. Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country 
who contemplate slavery as a moral, social, and political evil, having due 
regard for its actual existence amongst us, and the difficulties of getting 
rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the Constitutional obligations 
which have been thrown about it; but, nevertheless, desire a policy that 
looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks hopefully to the time 
when, as a wrong, it may come to an end. 

Mr. Lincoln also, after again calling attention to the 
fraudulent resolutions, and giving strong proof that Doug- 
las himself was a party to the imposition, showed that he 
had failed to answer his question about the acceptance 
of the new Dred Scott decision, which, he said, was "just 
as sure to be made as to-morrow is to come, if the Demo- 
cratic party shall be sustained" in the elections. He then 
discussed the policy of acquiring more territory, and the 
importance of deciding upon any such acquisition, by the 
effect which it would have upon the Slavery question 
among ourselves. 

In the next debate, at Quincy, besides making some 
personal points as to the mode in which Douglas had con- 
ducted the previous discussions, he stated clearly and 
briefly what were the principles of the Republican party, 
what they proposed to do, and what they did not propose 
to do. 

This exposition is at once so lucid and succinct that 
we give the passage at length. Mr. Lincoln alluded to the 
assertion made by Judge Douglas at Galesburg, that he 
(Mr. Lincoln) desired to avoid the responsibility attach 



70 The Life, Public Services, and 

ing to the "enormity" of the principles he advocated, and 
said that he would heartily state those principles, as "well 
as it was in his power to do, "in all their enormity," 
which he did as follows : 

T 

We have in this nation this element of domestic slavery. It is a matter 
of absolute certainty that it is a disturbing element. It is the opinion of 
all the great men who have expressed an opinion upon it, that it is a dan- 
gerous element. We keep up a controversy in regard to it. That contro- 
versy necessarily springs from difference of opinion, and if we can learn 
exactly — can reduce to the lowest elements — what that difference of opinion 
is, we perhaps shall be better prepared for discussing the different systems 
of policy that we would propose in regard to that disturbing element. 
I suggest that the difference of opinion, reduced to its lowest terms, is no 
other than the difference between the men who think slavery a wrong 
and those who do not think it wrong. The Eepublican party think it 
a wrong — we think it is a moral, a social, and a political wrong. We 
think it is a wrong not confining itself merely to the persons or the states 
where it exists, but that it is a wrong in its tendency, to say the least, that 
extends itself to the existence of the whole nation. Because we think it 
wrong, we propose a course of policy that shall deal with it as a wrong. 
We deal with it as with any other wrong, in so far as we can prevent its 
growing any larger, and so deal with it that in the run of time there may 
be some promise of an end to it. We have a due regard to the actual 
presence of it amongst us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any 
satisfactory way, and all the Constitutional obligations thrown about it. 
I suppose that in reference both to its actual existence in the nation, and 
to our Constitutional obligations, we have no right at all to disturb it in 
the States where it exists, and we profess that we have no more inclina- 
tion to disturb it than we have the right to do it. We go further than 
that ; we don't propose to disturb it where, in one instance, we think the 
Constitution would permit us. We think the Constitution would permit 
us to disturb it in the District of Columbia. Still we do not propose to 
do that, unless it should be in terms which I don't suppose the nation is 
very likely soon to agree to— the terms of making the emancipation 
gradual, and compensating the unwilling owners. Where we suppose we 
have the Constitutional right, we restrain ourselves in reference to the 
actual existence of the institution and the difficulties thrown about it. 
We also oppose it as an evil, so far as it seeks to spread itself. We insist 
on the policy that shall restrict it to its present limits. We don't suppose 
that in doing this we violate any thing due to the actual presence of the 
institution, or an/ thing due to the Constitutional guaranties thrown 
around it. 

We oppose the Dred Scott decision in a certain way, upon which I 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 71 

ought perhaps to address you a few words. We do not propose that 
when Dred Scott lias been decided to be a slave by the court, we, as a 
mob, will decide him to be free. "We do not propose that, when any 
other one, or one thousand, shall be decided by that court to be slaves, 
we will in any violent way disturb the rights of property thus settled ; 
but we nevertheless do oppose that decision as a political rule, which 
shall be binding on the voter to vote for nobody who thinks it wrong, 
which shall be binding on the members of Congress or the President to 
favor no measure that does not actually concur with the principles of that 
decision. We do not propose to be bouud by it as a political rule in that 
way, because we think it lays the foundation not merely of enlarging 
and spreading out what we consider an evil, but it lays the foundation for 
spreading that evil into the States themselves. We propose so resisting 
it as to have it reversed if we can, and a new judicial rule established 
upon this subject. 

I will add this, that if there be any man who does not believe that 
slavery is wrong in the three aspects which I have mentioned, or in any 
one of thern, that man is misplaced, and ought to leave us. While, on the 
other hand, if there be any man in the ^Republican party who is impa- 
tient over the necessity springing from its actual presence, and is impa- 
tient of the Constitutional guaranties thrown around it, and would act in 
disregard of these, he too is misplaced, standing with us. He will find his 
place somewhere else ; for we have a due regard, so far as we are capable 
of understanding them, for all these things. This, gentlemen, as well as 
I can give it, is a plain statement of our principles in all their enormity. 

Mr. Douglas replied to Mr. Lincoln in a manner which 
proved that he felt the arguments which his antagonist 
had adva need to he actually unanswerable, and in open 
ing his rejoinder Mr. Lincoln used this language :— 

I wish to return to Judge Douglas my profound thanks for his public 
annunciation here to-day, to be put on record, that his system of policy 
in regard to the institution of slavery contemplates that it shall last for- 
ever. We are getting a little nearer the true issue of this controversy, and 
I am profoundly grateful for this one sentence. Judge Douglas asks you, 
" Why cannot the institution of slavery, or rather, why cannot the nation, 
part slave and part free, continue as our fathers made \t forever V In the 
first place, I insist that our fathers did not make this nation half slave 
and half free, or part slave and part free. I insist that they found the in- 
stitution of slavery existing here. They did not make it so, but they left 
it so, because they knew of no way to get rid of it at that time. When 
Judge Douglas undertakes to say that, as a matter of choice, the fathers 
of the Government made this nation part slave and part free, he assumes 
what is historically a falsehood. More than that : when the fathers 



72 The Life, PubLxC Services, and 

of the Government cut off the source of slavery by the abolition of 
the slave-trade, and adopted a system of restricting it from the new 
Territories where it had not existed, I maintain that they placed it 
■where they understood, and all sensible men understood, it was in the 
course of ultimate extinction; and when Judge Douglas asks me why it 
cannot continue as our fathers made it, I ask him why he and his friends ' 
could not let it remain as our fathers made it? 

It is precisely all I ask of him in relation to the institution of slavery, 
that it shall be placed upon the basis that our fathers placed it upon. Mr. 
Brooks, of South Carolina, once said, and truly said, that when this Gov- 
ernment was established, no one expected the institution of slavery to 
last until this day ; and that the men who formed this Government were 
wiser and better than the men of these days; but the men of these days 
had experience which the fathers had not, and that experience had taught 
them the invention of the cotton-gin, and this had made the perpetuation 
of the institution of slavery a necessity in this country. Judge Douglas 
could not let it stand upon the basis on which our fathers placed it, but 
removed it, and put it upon the cotton-gin oasis. It is a question, there- 
fore, for him and his friends to answer — why they could not let it remain 
where the fathers of the Government originally placed it. 

The seventh and last joint debate took place at Alton, 
October 15. According to the schedule previously agreed 
upon, Mr. Douglas had the opening speech. Mr. Lincoln, 
in his rejoinder, made a thorough and exhaustive review 
of the slavery question in its relations to the Democratic 
party. He showed that the doctrines of that party, with 
reference to this question, were not those held at the time 
of the Revolution ; traced the development of the agita- 
tion which had resulted from the efforts of the Democracy 
to put slavery upon a different footing, and sketched the 
dangers and difficulties in which this attempt had in- 
volved the country. He thus expressed his opinion of 
the way in which this agitation might be terminated :— 

I have intimated that I thought the agitation would not cease until a 
crisis should have been reached and passed. I have stated in what way I 
thought it would be reached and passed. I have said that it might go 
one way or the other. We might, by arresting the further spread of it, 
and placing it where the fathers originally placed it, put it where Jie pub- 
lic mind should rest in the belief that it was in the course of ultimate ex- 
tinction. Thus the agitation may cease. It may be pushed forward until 
it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new, North as 
well as South. I have said, and I repeat, my wish is that the further 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 73 

spread of it may be arrested, and that it may be placed where the public 
mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction. 
I have expressed that as my wish. I entertain the opinion, upon evidence 
sufficient to my mind, that the fathers of this Government placed that in- 
stitution where the public mind did rest in the belief that it was in the 
course of ultimate extinction. Let me ask why they made provision that 
tne source of slavery — the African slave-trade — should be cut off at the 
end of twenty years? Why did they make provision th&t in all the new 
territory we owned at that time, slavery should be forever inhibited? 
"Why stop its spread in one. direction and cut off its source in another, if 
they did not look to its being placed in the course of ultimate extinction ? 

Mr. Lincoln then demonstrated that the whole contro- 
versy turned upon the vital question whether slavery- 
was wrong or not, and proved that the sentiment of the 
Democratic party, as it then existed, was that it was not 
wrong, and that Douglas and those who sympathized 
with him did not desire or ever expect to see the country 
freed from this gigantic evil. Upon this point he said : 

The sentiment that contemplates the institution of slavery in this coun- 
try as a wrong is the sentiment of the Republican party. It is the senti- 
ment around which all their actions — all their arguments circle— from 
which all their propositions radiate. They look upon it as being a moral, 
cocial, and political wrong ; and while they contemplate it as such, they 
nevertheless have due regard for its actual existence among us, and the 
difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the con- 
stitutional obligations thrown about it. Yet, having a due regard for 
these, they desire a policy in regard to it that looks to its not creating 
any more danger. They insist that it should, as far as may be, be treated 
as a wrong, and one of the methods of treating it as a wrong is to make 
provision that it shall grow no larger. They also desire a policy that 
looks to a peaceful end of slavery at some time, as being wrong. These 
arc the views they entertain in regard to it, as I understand them ; and all 
their sentiments — all their arguments and propositions are brought within 
this range. I have said, and I repeat it here, that if there be a man amongst 
us who does not think that the institution of slavery is wrong, in any one 
of the aspects of which I have spoken, he is misplaced, and ought not to be 
with us. And if there be a man amongst us who is-so impatient of it as a 
wrong as to disregard its actual presence among us, and the difficulty of 
getting rid of it suddenly in a satisfactory way, and to disregard the con- 
stitutional obligations thrown about it, that man is misplaced, if he is on 
our platform. We disclaim sympathy with him in practical action. IIo 
is not placed properly with us. 



74 The Life, Public Services, and 

On this subject of treating it as a wrong, and limiting its spread, let 
me say a word. Has any thing ever threatened the existence of this Union, 
save and except this very institution of slavery? What is it that we hold 
most dear amongst us ? Our own liberty and prosperity. What has ever 
threatened our liberty and prosperity, save and except this institution of 
slavery? If this is true, how do you propose to improve the condition of 
things by enlarging slavery — by spreading it out and making it bigger? 
You may have a wen or cancer upon your person and not be able to cut 
it out lest you bleed to death ; but surely it is no way to cure it, to en- 
graft it and spread it over your whole body. That is no proper way of 
treating what you regard a wrong. You see this peaceful way of dealing 
with it as a wrong — restricting the spread of it, and not allowing it to go 
into new countries where it has not already existed. That is the peaceful 
way, the old-fashioned way, the way in which the fathers themselves set 
us the example. 

On the other hand, I have said there is a sentiment which treats it as 
not being wrong. That is the Democratic sentiment of this day. I do 
not mean to say that every man who stands within that range positively 
asserts that it is right. That class will include all who positively assert 
that it is right, and all who, like Judge Douglas, treat it as indifferent, and 
do not say it is either right or wrong. These two classes of men fall 
within the general class of those who do not look upon it as a wrong. 
And if there be among you anybody who supposes that he, as a Demo- 
crat, can consider himself "as much opposed to slavery as anybody," I 
would like to reason with him. You never treat it as a wrong. What 
other thing that you consider as a wrong, do you deal with as you deal 
with that? Perhaps you say it is wrong, but your leader never does, and 
you quarrel with anybody who says it is wrong. Although you pretend 
to say so yourself, you can find no fit place to deal with it a3 a wrong. 
You must not say any thing about it in the free States, because it is not 
here. You must not say any thing about it in the slave States, because it 
is there. You must not say any thing about it in the pulpit, because that 
is religion, and has nothing to do with it. You must not say any thing 
about it in politics, because that will disturb the security of "my place." 
There is no place to talk about it as being a wrong, although you say 
yourself it is a wrong. But, finally, you will screw yourself up to the be- 
lief that if the people of the slave States should adopt a system of grad- 
ual emancipation on the slavery question, you would be in favor of it. 
You would be in favor of it. You say that is getting it in the right place, 
and you would be glad to see it succeed. But you are deceiving yourself. 
You all know that Frank Blair and Gratz Brown, down there in St. Louis, 
undertook to introduce that system into Missouri. They fought as vali- 
antly as they could for the system of gradual emancipation which you 
pretend you would be glad to see succeed. Now I will bring you to the 
test. After a hard fight thev were beaten, and when the news came over 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 75 

here yoa threw up your hats and hurrahed for Democracy. More than 
that ; take all the arguments made in favor of the system you have pro- 
posed, and it carefully excludes the idea that there is any thins; wrong in 
the institution of slavery. The arguments to sustain that policy carefully 
excluded it. Even here to-day yon heard Jud^e Douglas quarrel with me 
because I uttered a wish that it might sometime come to an end. Al- 
though Henry Clay could say he wished every slave in the United States 
was in the country of his ancestors, I am denounced by those pretending 
to respect Henry Clay for uttering a wish that it might sometime, in some 
peaceful way, come to an end. The Democratic policy in regard to that 
institution will not tolerate the merest breath, the slightest hint, of the 
least decree of wrong about it. 



Besides the speeches made in the course of these seven 
joint debates, Mr. Lincoln delivered at least fifty other 
addresses to the people, in all parts of the State, during 
the canvass, everywhere expounding his views and de- 
claring his sentiments with the same frankness and man- 
liness. The chief interest of the contest, however, cen- 
tred in their joint debates, and with every succeed- 
ing encounter the feeling in the State, and through- 
out the country, became more intense. As the day 
for final decision approached, Illinois fairly blazed 
with the excitement. While Mr. Douglas fully sus- 
tained his previous reputation, and justified the estimate 
his friends had placed upon his abilities, he labored un- 
der the comparative disadvantage of being much better 
known to the country at large than was his antagonist. 
During his long public career, people had become par- 
tially accustomed to his manner of presenting arguments 
and enforcing them. The novelty and freshness of Mr. 
Lincoln's addresses, on the other hand, the homeliness 
and force of his illustrations, their wonderful pertinence, 
his exhaustless humor, his confidence in his own re- 
sources, engendered by his firm belief in the justice of 
the cause he so ably advocated, never once rising, how- 
ever, to the point of arrogance or superciliousness, fast- 
ened upon him the eyes of the people everywhere, friends 
and opponents alike. It was not strange that more than 
once, during the course of the unparalleled excitement 



76 The Life, Public Services, and 

which marked this canvass, Mr. Douglas should have 
been thrown off his guard "by the singular self-possession 
displayed by his antagonist, and by the imperturbable firm- 
ness with which he maintained and defended a posi- 
tion once assumed. The unassuming confidence which 
marked Mr. Lincoln's conduct was early imparted to his 
supporters, and each succeeding encounter added largely 
to the number of his friends, until they began to indulge 
the hope that a triumph might be secured in spite of the 
adverse circumstances under which the struggle was com- 
menced. And so it would have been, had party lines 
been more strictly drawn. But the action of Mr. Doug- 
las with reference to the Lecompton Constitution when it 
was before the United States Senate, and the bitter hos- 
tility of the southern Aving of the Democratic part} r to 
wards him, had led very many Republicans, and some of 
high consideration and influence in other States, to favor 
his return to the Senate. They deemed this due to the 
zeal and efficiency with which he had resisted the attempt 
to force slavery into Kansas against the will of the peo- 
ple, and as important in encouraging other Democratic 
leaders to imitate the example of Douglas in throwing off 
the yoke of the slaveholding aristocracy. This feeling 
proved to be of much weight against Mr. Lincoln in the 
canvass. 

In the election which took place on ]S"ovember 2d, the 
popular vote stood as follows : 

Republican 126, 0S4 

Douglas Democrat 121,940 

Lecompton Democrat 5,091 

Mr. Lincoln, therefore, had the people been permitted 
to decide the question directly, would have been returned 
to the Senate, since he had a plurality of four thousand 
one hundred and forty-four votes over Mr. Douglas ; but 
the State legislature was the tribunal that was to pass 
finally upon it ; and there, fortunately for the country, 
as the future showed, but unfortunately for Mr. Lincoln 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 77 

at that time, the Democrats had secured an advantage, "by 
means of an unfair districting of the State, which it was 
impossible to overcome. Notwithstanding the immense 
gains made by the Republicans, their opponents had, in 
the upper branch of this body, fourteen members to their 
eleven, while in the lower House these two parties stood 
forty Democrats to thirty-five Republicans. This state 
of affairs secured Mr. Douglas a re-election, although the 
fact that he was fairly beaten on the popular vote, robbed 
his triumph of much of its lustre. An overruling Prov- 
idence, the workings of which can now be clearly traced, 
but which were then inscrutable, by securing this result, 
ultimately gave the nation for. its chief magistrate the 
man best fitted to carry it safely through the most trying 
period of its history. 



78 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER III. 

MR. LINCOLN AND THE PRESIDENCY. 

The Campaign of 1S59 in* Ohio. — Mr. Lincoln's Speeches at Columbus 
and Cincinnati. — His Visit to the East. — In New York City. — Tnu 
great Speech at Cooper Institute. — Mr. Lincoln Nominated fob 
the Presidency. — His Election. 

Cheerfully resigning himself to the fortunes of politi- 
cal warfare, Mr. Lincoln, upon the close of this canvass, 
returned to the practice of his profession. But he was 
not long allowed to remain in retirement. In the autumn 
of 1859 the Democrats of Ohio nominated Mr. Pugh as 
their candidate for governor, and to repay the fidelity 
with which he had followed his standard, as well as in 
the hope of securing important advantages for the democ- 
racy, Mr. Douglas was enlisted in the canvass. The 
Republicans at once appealed to Mr. Lincoln to come to 
their assistance. He promptly responded to the invita- 
tion to meet his eld antagonist, and more than sustained 
his great reputation by two speeches, one delivered at 
Columbus and the other at Cincinnati. Not fully satis 
fled with the position in which the close of the canvass in 
Illinois had left his favorite doctrine of Popular Sover- 
eignty, Mr. Douglas had secured the insertion in Harper's 
Magazine of an elaborate and carefully prepared article 
explaining his views at length. Mr. Lincoln's speech at 
Columbus was a most masterly review of this paper. 
After replying briefly to the identically stale charges 
which Mr. Douglas had so often repeated during the can- 
vass in Illinois, and which he had reiterated in a speech 
delivered at Columbus a few days previously, Mr. Lin- 
coln addressed himself to the task he had in hand, as fol- 
lows : — 

The Pvepublican party, as I understand its principles and policy, believe 
that there is great danger of the institution of slavery being spread out 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 79 

and extended, until it is ultimately made alike lawful in all the States of 
this Union ; so believing, to prevent that incidental and ultimate consura 
mation, is the original and chief purpose of the Republican organization. 
I say " chief purpose" of the Republican organization; for it is certainly 
true that if the National House shall fall into the hands of the Republicans, 
they will have to attend to all the other matters of national house-keep- 
ing as well as this. The chief and real purpose of the Republican party 
is eminently conservative. It proposes nothing save and except to restore 
this Government to its original tone in regard to this element of slavery, 
and there to maintain it, looking for no further change in reference to it 
than that which the original framers of the Government themselves ex- 
pected and looked forward to. 

The chief danger to this purpose of the Republican party is not just 
now the revival of the African slave-trade, or the passage of a Congres- 
sional slave-code, or the declaring of a second Dred Scott decision, making 
slavery lawful in all the States. These are not pressing us just now. 
They are not quite ready yet. The authors of these measures know that 
we are too strong for them ; but they will be upon us in due time, and wo 
will be grappling with them hand to hand, if they are not now headed off. 
They are not now the chief danger to the purpose of the Republican 
organization ; but the most imminent danger that now threatens that pur- 
pose is that insidious Douglas Popular Sovereignty. This is the minei 
and sapper. While it does not propose to revive the African slave-trade, 
nor to pass a slave-code, nor to make a second Dred Scott decision, it is 
preparing us for the onslaught and charge of these ultimate enemies when 
they shall be ready to come on, and the word of command for them to 
advance shall be given. I say this Douglas Popular Sovereignty — for 
there is a broad distinction, as I now understand it, between that article 
and a genuine Popular Sovereignty. 

I believe there is a genuine popular sovereignty. I think a definition 
of genuine popular sovereignty, in the abstract, would be about this: 
That each man shall do precisely as he pleases with himself, and with all 
those things which exclusively concern him. Applied to Government, 
this principle would be, that a General Government shall' do all those 
things which pertain to it, and all the local Governments shall do pre- 
cisely as they please in respect to those matters which exclusively concern 
them. I understand that this Government of the United States, under 
which we live, is based, upon this principle; and I am misunderstood if 
it is supposed that I have any war to make upon that principle. 

Now, what is Judge Douglas's Popular Sovereignty? It is, as a prin- 
ciple, nc other than that, if one man chooses to make a slave of another 
man, neither that other man nor anybody else has a right to object. 
Applied in Government, as he seeks to apply it, it is this : If, in a new 
Territory into which a few people are beginning to enter for the purpose 
01 making their homes, they choose to either exclude slavery from their 



80 The Life, Public Services, and 

limits or to establish it there, however one or the other may affect the 
persons to be enslaved, or the infinitely greater number of persons who 
are afterward to inhabit that Territory, or the other members of the fami- 
lies of communities, of which they are but an incipient member, or the 
general head of the family of States, as parent of all — however their action 
may affect one or the other of these, there is no power or right to inter- * 
fere. That is Douglas's Popular Sovereignty applied. 

He has a good deal of trouble with Popular Sovereignty. Ills explana 
tions explanatory of explanations explained are interminable. The most 
lengthy, and, as I suppose, the most maturely considered of his long series 
of explanations, is his great essay in Harper's Magazine. 

This exordium was followed by a speech which will 
rank among the ablest efforts of Mr. Lincoln. In an 
argument in whicli great sarcasm and humor were charac- 
teristically intermingled, he thoroughly exposed the 
fallacy of the positions taken by Mr. Douglas, and in 
conclusion, after again warning his hearers against the 
insidious dangers of this doctrine of popular sovereignty, 
said : — 

Did you ever, five years ago, hear of anybody in the world saying that 
the negro had no share in the Declaration of National Independence; that 
it did not mean negroes at all ; and when " all men " were spoken of, 
negroes were not included ? 

I am satisfied that five years ago that proposition was not put upon 
paper by any living being anywhere. I have been unable at any time 
to find a man in an audience who would declare that he had ever known 
of anybody saying so five years ago. Bat last year there was not a 
Douglas popular sovereign in Illinois who did not say it. Is there one in 
Ohio but declares his firm belief that the Declaration of Independence did 
not mean negroes at all? I do not know how this is; I have not been 
here much; but I presume you are very much alike everywhere. Then 
I suppose that all now express the belief that the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence never did mean negroes. I call upon one of them to say that 
he said it five years ago. 

If you think that now, and did not think it then, the next thing that 
strikes me is to remark that there has been a change wrought in you, and 
a very significant change it is, being no less than changing the negro, in 
your estimation, from the rank of a man to that of a brute. They are 
taking him down, and placing him, when spoken of, among reptiles and 
crocodiles, as Judge Douglas himself expresses it. 

Is not this change wrought in your minds a very important change ? 
Public opinion in this country is every thing. In a nation like ours, this 
popular sovereignty and squatter sovereignty have already wrought a 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 81 

change in the public mind to the extent I have stated. There is no nan 
in this crowd who can contradict it. 

Now, if you are opposed to slavery honestly, as much as anybody, i 
ask you to note that fact, and the like of which is to follow, to bo 
plastered on, layer after layer, until very soon you are prepared to 
deal with the negro everywhere as with the brute. If public sen- 
timent has not been debauched already to this point, a new turn of 
the screw -in that direction is all that is wanting; and this is con- 
stantly being done by the teachers of this insidious popular sovereignty. 
You need but one or two turns further until your minds, now ripening 
under these teachings, will be ready for all these things, and you will re- 
ceive aud support, or submit to, the slave-trade, revived with all its 
horrors, a slave-code enforced in our Territories, and a new -Dred Scott 
decision to bring slavery up into the very heart of the free North. This, 
t must say, is but carrying out those words prophetically spoken by Mr. 
Clay, many, many years ago — I believe more than thirty years, when he 
told an audience that if they would repress all tendencies to liberty and 
ultimate emancipation, th jy must go back to the era of our independence, 
and muzzle the cannon which thundered its annual joyous return on the 
Fourth of July ; they must blow out the moral lights around us ; they 
must penetrate the human soul and eradicate the love of liberty ; but until 
they did these things, and others eloquently enumerated by him, they 
could not repress all tendencies to ultimate emancipation. 

I ask attention to the fact that in a pre-eminent degree these popular 
sovereigns are at this work ; blowing out the moral lights around us ; 
teaching that the negro is no longer a man, but a brute; that the Declara- 
tion has nothing to do with him ; that he ranks with the crocodile and 
the reptile ; that man, with body and soul, is a matter of dollars and 
cents. I suggest to this portion of the Ohio Republicans, or Democrats, 
if there be any present, the serious consideration of this fact, that there ia 
now going on among you a steady process of debauching public opinion 
on this subject. With this, my friends, I bid you adieu. 

Ill his speech at Cincinnati, Mr. Lincoln addressed him- 
self particularly to the Kentuckians whom he supposed 
to be among his hearers, and after advising them to nom- 
inate Mr. Douglas as their candidate for the Presidency 
at the approaching Charleston Convention, showed them 
how by so doing they would the most surely protect their 
cherished institution of slavery. In the course of his 
argument he expressed this shrewd opinion, which may 
now be classed as a prophecy : — 

It is but my opinion; I give it to you without a fee. It is my opinion 
6 



' 



82 The Life, Public Services, and 

that it is for you to take him [Mr. Douglas] or he defeated ; and that if 
you do take him, you may be beaten. You will surely be beaten if you 
do not take him. Wc, the Bepublicans and others forming the opposition 
of the country, intend to " standby our guns," to be patient and firm, and 
in the long run to beat you, whether you take liim or not. We know that 
before we fairly beat you, we have to beat you both together. We know 
that you are " all of a feather," and that we have to beat you altogether, 
and we expect to do it. We don't intend to be very impatient about it. 
We mean to be as deliberate and calm about it as it is possible to he, but 
as firm and resolved as it is possible for men to be. When we do as we 
say, beat you, you perhaps want to know what we will do with you. 

I will tell you, so far as I am authorized to speak for the opposition, 
what we mean to do with you. We mean to treat you, as near as we 
possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We 
mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere with your institution ; 
to abide by all and every compromise of the Constitution, and, in a word, 
coming back to the original proposition, to treat you, so far as degener- 
ated men (if we have degenerated) may, accc rding to the examples of 
those noble fathers — Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. We mean to 
remember that you are as good as we; that there is no difference between 
us other than the difference of circumstances. We meaD to recognize and 
hear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your bosoms as other 
people, or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly. We mean to 
marry your girls when we have a chance — the white ones, I mean, and I 
have the honor to inform you that I once did have a chance in that way. 

I have told you what we mean to do. I want to know, now, when < 
that thing takes place, what do you mean to do ? I often hear it inti- 
mated that you mean to divide the Union whenever a Eepublican, or any 
thing like it, is elected President of the United States. [A voice — " That 
is so."] " That is so," one of them says ; I wonder if he is a Kentuckian ? 
[A voice — " He is a Douglas man."] Well, then, I want to know what 
you are going to do with your half of it? Are you going to split tho 
Ohio down through, and push your half off a piece ? Or are you going to 
keep it right alongside of us outrageous fellows? Or are you going to 
build up a wall some way between your country and ours, by which that 
movable property of yours can't come over here any more, to the danger 
of your losing it ? Do you think you can better yourselves on that sub- 
ject, by leaving us here under no obligation whatever to return those 
specimens of your movable property that come hither? You have divided 
the Union because we would not do right with you, as you think, upon 
that subject; when we cease to be under obligations to do any thing for 
you, how much better off do you think you will be ? Will you make war 
upon us and kill us all ? Why, gentlemen, I think you are as gallant and 
as brave men as live ; that you can fight as bravely in a good cause, man 
foi man, as any other people living; that you have shown yourselvea 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 83 

capable of tins upon various occasions ; but, man for man, you are not 
better than we are, and there are not so man}' of you as there are of us. 
You will never make much of a hand at whipping us. If we were fewer 
in numbers than you, I think that you could whip us ; if we were equal, 
it would likely be a drawn battle ; but, being inferior in numbers, you will 
make nothing by attempting to master us. 

But perhaps I have addressed myself as long, or longer, to the Ken- 
tuckians than I ought to have done, inasmuch as I have said that what- 
ever course you take, we intend in the end to beat you. 

The rest of this address was mainly occupied with a 
discussion of the policy which the Republican party 
should pursue in the Presidential campaign then about to 
open. The following passage from this part of the speech 
is among the most notable of Mr. Lincoln' s many noble 
utterances : 

In order to beat our opponents, I think we want and must have a 
national policy in regard to the institution of slavery, that acknowledges 
and deals with that institution as being wrong. Whoever desires the pre- 
vention of the spread of slavery, and the nationalization of that institution, 
yields all when he yields to any policy that either recognizes slavery as 
being right, or as being an indifferent thing. Nothing will make you suc- 
cessful but setting up a policy which shall treat the thing as being wrong. 
When I say this, I do not mean to say that this General Government is 
charged with the duty of redressing or preventing all the wrongs in the 
world ; but do think that it is charged with preventing and redressing 
all wrongs which are wrongs to itself. This Government is expro?sly 
charged with the duty of providing for the general welfare. We believe 
that the spreading out and perpetuity of the institution of slavery impairs 
the general welfare. We believe — nay, we know, that that is the only 
thing that has ever threatened the perpetuity of the Union itself. The 
only thing which has ever menaced the destruction of the government 
under which we live, is this very thing. 

To repress this thing, we think, is providing for the general welfare. 
Our friends in Kentucky differ from us. We need not make our argu- 
ment for them, but we who think it is wrong in all its relations, or in 
some of them at least, must decide as to our own actions, and our own 
course, upon our own judgment. 

I say that we must not interfere with the institution of slavery in the 
States where it exists, because the Constitution forums it, and the general 
welfare does not require us to do so. We must not withhold an efficient 
Fugitive Slave law, because the Constitution requires us, as I understand 
it, not to withhold such a law. But we must prevent the outspreading 
of the institution, because neither the Constitution nor the general welfare 



84 TnE Life, Public Services, and 

requires us to extend it. "We must prevent the revival of the African slave- 
trade, and the enacting by Congress of a Territorial slave-code. We must 
prevent each of these things being dune by either Congresses or courts. 
The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Con- 
gresses and courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow 
the men who pervert the Constitution. 

To do these things we must employ instrumentalities. "We must hold 
conventions ; we must adopt platforms, if we conform to ordinary custom ; 
we must nominate candidates, and we must carry elections. In all these 
things, I think that we ought to keep in view our real purpose, and in 
none do any thing that stands adverse to our purpose. If we shall adopt 
a platform that fails to recognize or express our purpose, or elect a man 
that declares himself inimical to our purpose, we not only take nothing 
by our success, but we tacitly admit that we act upon no other principle 
than a desire to have " the loaves and fishes," by which, in the end, our 
apparent success is really an injury to us. 

During the latter part of that year (1859) Mr. Lincoln also 
visited Kansas, and was greeted with enthusiastic cordial 
ity "by the people, whose battles he had fought with such 
masterly ability and skill. In February, I860, in response 
to an invitation from the Young Men' s Republican Club, 
he came to New York, to deliver an address upon some 
topic appropriate to the crisis which it was evident was ap- 
proaching. Tuesday evening, February 27th, was the hour, 
and Cooper Institute was the place, selected for the first 
appearance of the future President before the New York 
public ; and a curiosity to see the man who had so ably 
combated the "Little Giant" of the West, as well as an 
earnest desire to hear an expression of his views upon the 
questions which were then so rapidly developing in im- 
portance, and beginning to agitate the public mind so 
deeply, filled the large hall named to overflowing, with 
an audience which comprised many ladies. William 
Cullen Bryant presided, assisted by numerous prominent 
politicians. He presented Mr. Lincoln to the audience 
with a few appropriate remarks. Mr. Lincoln was quite 
warmly received, and delivered an address which at times 
excited uncontrollable enthusiasm. It was at once accepted 
as one of the most important contributions to the current 
political literature of the day, and now stands among the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 85 

enduring monuments to Mr. Lincoln's memory. We ap- 
pend it in full : 

Mr. President and Fellow-Citizens of New York : — The facts with 
Which I shall deal this evening are mainly old and familiar; nor is there 
any tiling new in the general use I shall make of them. If there shall be 
any novelty, it will be in the mode of presenting the facts, and the infer- 
ences and observations following that presentation. 

In his speech last autumn, at Columbus, Ohio, as reported in the " New 
York Times," Senator Douglas said: 

" Our fathers, when they framed the Government tinder which we lifie y 
understood this question just as well, and even better than we do now." 

I fully indorse this, and I adopt it as a text for this discourse. I so adopt 
it because it furnishes a precise and an agreed starting-point for a discus- 
sion between Republicans and that wing of the Democracy headed by 
Senator Douglas. It simply leaves the inquiry : " What was the under- 
standing those fathers had of the question mentioned . ? " 

What is the frame of Government under which we live ? 

The answer must be : " The Constitution of the United States." That 
Constitution consists of the original, framed in 1767 (and under which the 
present government first went into operation), and twelve subsequently 
framed amendments, the first ten of which were framed in 1789. 

Who were our fathers that framed the Constitution ? I suppose the 
"thirty-nine" who signed the original instrument may be fairly called 
cur fathers who framed that part of the present Government. It is almost 
exactly true to say they framed it, and it is altogether true to say they fair- 
ly represented the opinion and sentiment of the whole nation at that time. 

Their names, being familiar to nearly all, and accessible to quite all, 
need not now be repeated. 

I take these "thirty-nine,' 1 ' for the present, as being our "fathers who 
framed the Government under which we live." 

Wbat is the question which, according to the text, those fathers under- 
stood "just as well, and even better than we do now?" 

It is this : Does the proper division of local from federal authority, or 
any thing in the Constitution, forbid our Federal Government to control 
as to slavery in our Federal Territories f 

Upon this Senator Douglas holds the affirmative, and Republicans the 
negative. This affirmation and denial form an issue, and this issue — this 
question — is precisely what the text declares our fathers understood "bet- 
ter than we." 

Let us now inquire whether the " thirty-nine," or any of them, 
acted upon this question ; and if they did, how they acted upon it — how 
they expressed that better understanding? 

In 1784, three years before the Constitution — the United States then 
owning the Northwestern Territory, and no other — the Congress of the Coir 



86 The Life, Public Services, and 

federation had before them the question of prohibiting slavery in that Ter- 
ritory ; and four of the " thirty-nine," who afterward framed the Consti- 
tution, were in that Congress and voted on that question. Of these, 
Roger Sherman, Thomas Mifflin, and Hugh Williamson voted for the pro- 
hibition, thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local 
from Federal authority, nor any thing else, properly forbade the Federal 
Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. The other of 
the four — James M'Henry — voted against the prohibition, showing that, 
for some cause, he thought it improper to vote for it. 

In 1787, still before the Constitution, but while the Convention was in 
session framing it, and while the Northwestern Territory still was the only 
territory owned by the United States, the same question of prohibiting 
slavery in the territory again came before the Congress of the Confedera- 
tion ; and two more of the " thirty-nine " who afterward signed the Con- 
stitution were in that Congress, and voted on the question. They were 
"William Blount and William Few ; and they both voted for the prohibi- 
tion — thus showing that, in their understanding, no line dividing local 
from Federal authority, nor any thing else, properly forbade the Federal 
Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. This time the 
prohibition became a law, being part of what is now well known as the 
Ordinance of '87. 

The question of Federal control of slavery in the territories, seems not 
to have been directly before the Convention which framed the original 
Constitution ; and hence it is not recorded that the "thirty-nine," or any 
of them, while engaged on that instrument, expressed any opinion on that- 
precise question. 

In 1789, by the first Congress which sat under the Constitution, an act 
was passed to enforce the Ordinance of '87, including the prohibition of 
slavery in the Northwestern Territory. The bill for this act was reported 
by one of the " thirty-nine," Thomas Fitzsimmons, then a member of the 
House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. It went through all its 
stages without a word of opposition, and finally passed both branches with- 
out yeas and nays, which is equivalent to a unanimous passage. In this 
Congress there were sixteen of the thirty-nine fathers who framed the 
original Constitution. They were John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman, Win. 
S. Johnson, Roger Sherman, Robert Morris, Thos. Fitzsimmons, William 
Few, Abraham Baldwin, Rufus King, William Paterson, George Clymer, 
Richard Bassett, George Read, Pierce Butler, Daniel Carroll, James Madi- 
son. 

This shows that, in their understanding, no line dividing local from Fed- 
eral authority, nor any thing in the Constitution, properly forbade Con- 
gress to prohibit slavery in the Federal territory ; else both their fidelity 
to correct principles, and their oath to support the Constitution, would 
have constrained them to oppose the prohibition. 

Again: George Washington, another of the "thirty-nine," was then 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 87 

President of the United States, and, as such, approved and signed the bill ; 
thus completing its validity as a law, and thus showing that, in his under- 
standing, no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any thing in 
the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery 
in Federal territory. 

No great while after the adoption of the original Constitution, North 
Carolina ceded to the Federal Government the country now. constituting 
the State of Tennessee; and, a few years later, Georgia ceded that which 
now constitutes the States of Mississippi and Alabama. In both deeds of 
cession it was made a condition by the ceding States that the Federal 
Government should not prohibit slavery in the ceded country. Besidea 
this, slavery was then actually in the ceded country. Under these cir- 
cumstances, Congress, on taking charge of these countries, did not abso- 
lutely prohibit slavery within them. But they did interfere with it — take 
control of it — even there, to a certain extent. In 1708, Congress organ- 
ized the Territory of Mississippi. In the act of organization, they prohib- 
ited the bringing of slaves into the Territory, from any place without the 
United States, by fine, and giving freedom to slaves so brought. This act 
passed both branches of Congress without yeas and nays. In that Con- 
gress were three of the "thirty-nine 1 ' who framed the original Constitu- 
tion. They were John Langdon, George Read, and Abraham Baldwin. 
They all, probably, voted for it. Certainly they would have placed their 
opposition to it upon record, if, in their understanding, any line dividing 
local from Federal authority, or any thing in the Constitution, properly for- 
bade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in Federal territory. 

In 1803, the Federal Government purchased the Louisiana country. 
Our former territorial acquisitions came from certain of our own States ; 
but this Louisiana country was acquired from a foreign nation. In 1S04, 
Congress gave a territorial organization to that part of it which now con- 
stitutes the State of Louisiana. New Orleans, lying within that part, waa 
an old and comparatively large city. There were other considerable 
towns and settlements, and slavery was extensively and thoroughly inter- 
mingled with the people. Congress did not, in the Territorial Act, pro- 
hibit slavery ; but they did interfere with it — take control of it — in a 
move marked and extensive way than they did in the case of Mississippi. 
The substance of the provision therein made in relation to slaves was : 

First. That no slave should be imported into the territory from foreign 
parts. 

Second. That no slave should be carried into it who had been imported 
into the United States since the first day of May, 1798. 

Third. That no slave should be carried into it except by the owner, 
and for his own use as a settler; the penalty in all the cases being a fine 
upon the violator of the law, and freedom to the slave. 

This act also was passed without yeas and nays. In the Congresa 
which passed it, there were two of the ''thirty-nine." They were Abra- 



88 The Life, Public Services, and 

ham Baldwin and Jonathan Dayton. As stated in the case of Mississippi, 
it is prohahle they hoth voted for it. They would not have allowed it to 
pass without recording their opposition to it, if, in their understanding, 
it violated either the line properly dividing local from Federal authority, 
or any provision of the Constitution. 

In 1819-20, came and passed the Missouri question. Many votes were 
taken, by yeas and nays, in both branches of Congress, upon the various 
phases of the general question. Two of the " thirty-nine" — Rufus King 
and Charles Pinckney — were members of that Congress. Mr. King 
steadily voted for slavery prohibition and against all compromises, while 
Mr. Pinckney as steadily voted against slavery prohibition, and against 
all compromises. By this, Mr. King showed that, in his understanding, 
no line dividing local from Federal authority, nor any thing in the Consti- 
tution, was violated by Congress prohibiting slavery in Federal territory ; 
while Mr. Pinckney, by his vote, showed that, in his understanding, thero 
was some sufficient reason for opposing such prohibition in that case. 

The cases I have mentioned are the only acts of the "thirty-nine," or 
of any of them, upon the direct issue, which I have been able to discover. 

To enumerate the persons who thus acted, as being four in 1784, two 
in 1787, seventeen in 1789, three in 1798, two in 1804, and two in 1819- 
20 — there would be thirty of them. But this would be counting John 
Langdon, Roger Sherman, William Few, Rufns King, and George Read, 
each twice, and Abraham Baldwin, three times. The true number of 
those of the " thirty-nine " whom I have shown to have acted upon the 
question which, by the text, they understood better than we, is twenty- 
three, leaving sixteen not shown to have acted upon it in any way. 

Here, then, we have twenty-three out of our thirty-nine fathers " who 
framed the Government under which we live," who have, upon their 
official responsibility and their corporal oaths, acted upon the very ques- 
tion which the text affirms they " understood just as well, and even bet- 
ter than we do now;" and twenty -one of them— a clear majority of the 
whole "thirty-nine" — so acting upon it as to make them guilty of gross 
political impropriety and wilful perjury, if, in their understanding, any 
proper division between local and Federal authority, or any thing in the 
Constitution they had made themselves, and sworn to support, forbade 
the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories. 
Thus the twenty-one acted ; and, as actions speak louder than words, so 
actions, under such responsibility, speak still louder. 

Two of the twenty-three voted against Congressional prohibition of 
slavery in the Federal territories, in the instances in which they acted 
tipon the question. But for what reasons they so voted is not known. 
They may have done so because they thought a proper division of local 
from Federal authority, or some provision or principle of the Constitution, 
6tood in the way ; or they may, without any such question, have voted 
against the prohibition on what appeared to thein to be sufficient grounds 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 89 

of expediency. No one who has sworn to support the Constitution, can 
conscientiously vote for what he understands to be an unconstitutional 
measure, however expedient he may think it; but one may and ought to 
vote against a measure which he deems constitutional, if, at the same time, 
he deems it inexpedient. It therefore would be unsafe to set down even 
the two who voted against the prohibition, as having done so because, in 
their understanding, any proper division of local from Federal authority, 
or any thing in the Constitution, forbade the Federal Government to con- 
trol as to slavery in Federal territory. 

The remaining sixteen of the " thirty-nine," so far as I have discovered, 
have left no record of their understanding upon the direct question of 
Federal control on slavery in the Federal territories. But there is much 
reason to believe that their understanding upon that question would not 
have appeared different from that of their twenty-three compeers, had it 
been manifested at all. 

For the purpose of adhering rigidly to the text, I have purposely omit- 
ted whatever understanding may have been manifested by any person, 
however distinguished, other than the thirty-nine fathers who framed the 
original Constitution; and, for the same reason, I have also omitted what- 
ever understanding may have been manifested by any of the " thirty- 
nine " even, on any other phase of the general question of slavery." If we 
should look into their acts and declarations on those other phases, as the 
foreign slave-trade, and the morality and policy of slavery generally, it 
would appear to us that on the direct question of Federal control of sla- 
very in Federal territories, the sixteen, if they had acted at all, would 
probably have acted just as the twenty-three did. Among that sixteen 
were several of the most noted anti-slavery men of those times — as Dr. 
Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Gouverneur Morris — while there was 
not one now known to have been otherwise, unless it may be John Rut- 
ledge, of South Carolina. 

The sum of thw whole is, that of our thirty-nine fathers who framed 
the original Constitution, twenty-one — a clear majority of the whole— 
certainly understood that no proper division of local from Federal au- 
thority, nor any part of the Constitution, forbade the Federal Govern- 
ment to control slavery in the Federal territories ; whilst all the rest prob- 
ably had the same understanding. Such, unquestionably, was the under- 
standing of our fathers who framed the original Constitution ; and the 
text affirms that they understood the question "better than we." 

But, so far, I have been considering the understanding of the question 
manifested by the framers of the original Constitution. In and by the 
original instrument, a mode was provided for amending it ; and, as I have 
already stated, the present frame of " the Government under which we 
live " consists of that original, and twelve amendatory articles framed 
and adopted since. Those who now insist that Federal control of slavery 
in Federal territories violates the Constitution, point us to the provisions 



90 The Life, Public Services, and 

■which they suppose it thus violates ; and, as I understand, they all hx 
upon provisions in these amendatory articles, and not in the original in- 
strument. The Supreme Court, in the Dred Scott case, plant themselves 
upon the fifth amendment, which provides that no person shall he de- 
prived of "life, liberty, or property without due process of law;" while 
Senator Douglas and his peculiar adherents plant themselves upon the 
tenth amendment, providing that "the powers not delegated to the 
United States by the Constitution, 1 ' " are reserved to the States respect- 
ively, or to the people." 

Now, it so happens that these amendments were framed by the first 
Congress which sat under the Constitution— the identical Congress which 
passed the act already mentioned, enforcing the prohibition of slavery in 
the Northwestern Territory. Not only was it the same Congress, but 
they were the identical same individual men who, at the same session, 
and at the same time within the session, had under consideration, and in 
progress toward maturity, these Constitutional amendments, and this act 
prohibiting slavery in all the territory the nation then owned. The Con- 
stitutional amendments were introduced before, and passed after the act 
enforcing the Ordinance of '87 ; so that, during the whole pendency of 
the act to enforce the Ordinance, the Constitutional amendments were 
also pending. 

The seventy-six members of that Congress, including sixteen of the 
framers of the original Constitution, as before stated, were pre-eminently 
our fathers who framed that part of " the Government under which we 
live," which is now claimed as forbidding the Federal Government to 
control slavery in the Federal territories. 

Is it not a little presumptuous in any one at this day to affirm that the 
two things which that Congress deliberately framed, and carried to ma- 
turity at the same time, are absolutely inconsistent with each other ? 
And does not such affirmation become impudently absurd when coupled 
with the other affirmation from the same mouth, chat those who did the 
two things alleged to be inconsistent, understood whether they really 
were inconsistent better than we — better than he who affirms that they 
are inconsistent ? 

It is surely safe to assume that the thirty-nine framers of the original 
Constitution, and the seventy-six members of the Congress which framed 
the amendments thereto, taken together, do certainly include those who 
may be fairly called " our fathers who framed the Government under 
which we live." And, so assuming, I defy any man to show that any one 
of them ever, in his whole life, declared that, in his understanding, any 
proper division of .local from Federal authority, or any part of the Con- 
stitution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the 
Federal territories. I go a step further. I defy anyone to show that any 
living man in the whole world ever did, prior to the beginning of the 
present century (and I might almost say prior to the beginning of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 91 

last half of the present century), declare that, in his understanding, any 
proper division of local from Federal authority, or any part of the Consti- 
tution, forbade the Federal Government to control as to slavery in the 
Federal territories. To those who now so declare, I give not only " our 
fathers who framed the Government under which we live," but with them 
all other living men within the century in which it was framed, among 
whom to search, and they shall not be able to find the evidence of a single 
man agreeing with them. 

Now, and here, let me guard a little against being misunderstood. I 
do not mean to say we are bound to follow implicitly in whatever our 
fathers did. To do so, would be to discard all the lights of current ex- 
perience — to reject all progress — all improvement. "What I do say is, that 
if we would supplant the opinions and policy of our fathers in any case, 
we should do so upon evidence so conclusive, and argument so clear, that 
even their great authority, fairly considered and weighed, cannot stand; 
and most surely not in a case whereof we ourselves declare they under- 
stood the question better than we. 

If any man at this day sincerely believes that proper division of local 
from Federal authority, or any part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal 
Government to control as to slavery in the Federal territories, he is right 
to say so, and to enforce his position by all truthful evidence and fair 
argument which he can. But he has no right to mislead others, who 
have less access to history, and less leisure to study it, into the false belief 
that " our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," 
were of the same opinion — thus substituting falsehood and. deception for 
truthful evidence and fair argument. If any man at this day sincerely 
believes "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," 
used and applied principles, in other cases, which ought to have led them 
to understand that a proper division of local from Federal authority, or 
some part of the Constitution, forbids the Federal Government to control 
as to slavery in the Federal territories, he is right to say so. But he 
should, at the same time, brave the responsibility of declaring that, in his 
opinion, he understands their principles better than they did themselves ; 
and especially should he not shirk that responsibility by asserting that they 
" understood the question just as well, and even better than we do now." 

But enough! Let all icho believe that " our fathers, who framed the 
Government under which we lire, understood this question just as well, and 
even letter than we do noiv," speak as they spoke, and act as they acted 
upon it. This is all Republicans aslc — all Republicans desire — in relation 
to slavery. As those fathers marked it, so let it be again marked, as an 
evil not to be extended, but to be tolerated and protected only because of, and 
so far as, its actual presence among us makes that toleration and protection 
a necessity. Let all the guaranties those fathers gave it be not grudgingly, 
but fully and fairly maintained. For this Republicans contend, and with 
this, so far as I know or believe, they will be content. 



92 The Life, Public Services, and 

And now, if they would listen — as I suppose they will net — I would 
address a few words to the Southern people. 

I would say to them : — You consider yourselves a reasonahle and a just 
people ; and I consider that in the general qualities of reason and justice 
you are not inferior to any other people. Still, when you speak of us 
Republicans, you do so only to denounce us as reptiles, or, at the best, as 
no better tban outlaws. You will grant a hearing to pirates or murderers, 
but nothing like it to " Black Republicans. 1 ' In all your contentions with 
one another, each of you deems an unconditional condemnation of "Black 
Republicanism" as the first thing to be attended to. Indeed, such con- 
demnation of us seems to be an indispensable prerequisite — license, so to 
speak — among you, to be admitted or permitted to speak at all. Now, 
can you, or not, be prevailed upon to pause, and to consider whether this 
is quite just to us, or even to yourselves ? Bring forward your charges and 
specifications, and then be patient long enough to hear us deny or 
justify. 

You say we are sectional. "We deny it. That makes an issue; and the 
burden of proof is upon you. You produce your proof; and what is it? 
"Why, that our party has no existence in your section — gets no votes in 
your section. The fact is substantially true; but does it prove the issue? 
If it does, then in case we should, without change of principle, begin to 
get votes in your section, we should thereby cease to be sectional. You 
cannot escape this conclusion ; and yet, are you willing to abide by it? 
If you are, you will probably soon find that we have ceased to be sectional, 
for we shall get votes in your section this very year. You will then begin 
to discover, as the truth plainly is, that your proof does not touch the 
issue. The fact that we get no votes in your section, is a fact of your 
making, and not of ours. And if there be fault in that fact, that fault is 
primarily yours, and remains so until you show that we repel you by some 
wrong principle or practice. If we do repel you by any wrong principle 
or practice, the fault is ours ; but this brings you to "where you ought to 
have started — to a discussion of the right or wrong of our principle. If 
our principle, put in practice, would wrong your section for the bene- 
fit of ours, or for any other object, then our principle, and we with it, 
are sectional, and are justly opposed and denounced as such. Meet us, 
then, on the question of whether our principle, put in practice, would 
wrong your section; and so meet us as if it were possible that something 
may be said on our side. Do you accept the challenge? No! Then you 
really believe that the principle which "our fathers who framed the Gov- 
ernment under which we live" thought so clearly right as to adopt it, 
and indorse it again and again, upon their official oaths, is in fact so 
clearly wrong as to demand your condemnation without a moment's con- 
sideration. 

Some of you delight to flaunt in our faces the warning against sectional 
parties given by "Washington in his Farewell Address. Les3 than eight 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 93 

years bifore Washington gave that warning, he had, as President of the 
United States, approved and signed an act of Congress enforcing the pro- 
hibition of slavery in the Northwestern Territory, which act embodied 
the policy of the Government upon that subject up to, and at, the very 
moment he penned that warning ; and about one year after he penned it, 
he wrote La Fayette that tie considered that prohibition a wise measure, 
expressing in the same connection his hope that we should at some timo 
have a confederacy of free States. 

Bearing this in mind, and seeing that sectionalism has since arisen upon 
this same subject, is that warning a weapon in your hands against us, or 
in our hands against you? Could Washington himself speak, would he 
cast the blame of that sectionalism upon us, who sustain his policy, or 
upon you, who repudiate it? "We respect that warning of Washington, and 
we commend it to you, together with his example pointing to the right 
application of it. 

But you say you are conservative — eminently conservative — while we 
are revolutionary, destructive, or something of the sort. What is con- 
servatism ? Is it not adherence to the old and tried, against a new and 
untried? We stick to, contend for, the identical old policy on the point 
in controversy which was adopted by " our fathers who framed the Gov- 
ernment under which we live ;" while you with one accord reject, and 
scout, and spit upon that old policy, and insist upon substituting something 
new. True, you disagree among yourselves as to what that substitute 
shall be. You are divided on new propositions and plans, but you are 
unanimous in rejecting and denouncing the old policy of the fathers. 
Some of you are for reviving the foreign slave-trade ; some for a Con- 
gressional Slave-Code for the Territories; some for Congress forbidding 
the Territories to prohibit Slavery within their limits ; some for maintain- 
ing Slavery in the Territories through the judiciary; some for the "gur- 
reat pur-rinciple" that "if one man would enslave another, no third man 
should object," fantastically called "Popular Sovereignty ;" but never a 
man among you in favor of Federal prohibition of slavery in Federal terri- 
tories, according to the practice of " our fathers who framed the Govern- 
ment under which we live." Not one of all your various plans can show a 
precedent or an advocate in the century within which our Government 
originated. Consider, then, whether your claim of conservatism for your- 
selves, and your charge of destructiveness against us, are based on the 
most, clear and stable foundations. 

Again : you say we have made the slavery question more prominent than 
it formerly was. We deny it. We admit that it is more prominent, but 
we deny that we made it so. It was not we, but you, who discarded the 
old policy of the fathers. We resisted, and still resist your innovation ; 
and thence comes the greater prominence of the question. Would you 
have that question reduced to its former proportions? Go back to that 
old policy. What has been will be again, under the same conditions. If 



94 The Life, Public Services, and 

f ou would have the peace of the old times, readopt the precepts and policy 
»f the old times. 

You charge that we stir up insurrections among your slaves. We deny 
it; and what is your proof? Harper's Ferry! John Brown!! John 
Brown was no Republican ; and you have failed to implicate a single Re- 
publican in his Harper's Ferry enterprise. If any member of our party is 
guilty in that matter, you know it or you do not know it. If you do know 
it, you are inexcusable for not designating the man and proving the fact. 
If you do not know it, you are inexcusable for asserting it, and especially 
for persisting in the assertion after you have tried and failed to make the 
proof. You need not be told that persisting in a charge which one does 
not know to be true .is simply malicious slander. 

Some of you admit that no Republican designedly aided or encouraged 
the Harper's Ferry affair ; but still insist that our doctrines and declara- 
tions necessarily lead to such results. We do not believe it. We know 
we hold to no doctrine, and make no declaration, which were not held to 
and made by " our fathers who framed the Government under which we 
live." You never dealt fairly by us in relation to this affair. When it 
occurred, some important State elections were near at hand, and you were 
In evident glee with the belief that, by charging the blame upon us, you 
could get an advantage of us in those elections. The elections came, and 
four expectations were not quite fulfilled. Every Republican man knew 
hhat, as to himself at least, your charge was a slander, and he was not 
much inclined by it to cast his vote in your favor. Republican doctrines 
and declarations are accompanied with a continued protest against any 
interference whatever with your slaves, or with you about your slaves. 
Surely, this does not encourage them to revolt. True, we do, in common 
with "our fathers, who framed the Government under which we live," 
declare our belief that slavery is wrong ; but the slaves do not hear us 
declare even this. For any thing we say or do, the slaves would scarcely 
know there is a Republican party. I believe they would not, in fact, 
generally know it but for your misrepresentations of us in their hearing. 
In your political contests among yourselves, each faction charges the 
other with sympathy with Black Republicanism ; and then, to give point 
to the charge, defines Black Republicanism to simply be insurrection, 
blood, and thunder among the slaves. 

Slave insurrections are no more common now than they were he 
fore the Republican party was organized. What induced the Southamp 
ton insurrection, twenty-eight years ago, in which, at least, three times aa 
many lives were lost as at Harper's Ferry? You can scarcely stretch 
your very elastic fancy to the conclusion that Southampton was "got up 
by Black Republicanism." In the present state of things in the United 
States, I do not think a general or even a very extensive slave insurrec- 
tioi' is possible. The indispensable concert of action cannot be attained. 
The slaves have no means of rapid communication ; nor can incendiary 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 95 

freemen, black or white, supply it. The explosive materials are every- 
where in parcels ; hut there neither are, nor can be supplied, the indis- 
pensable connecting-trains. 

Much is said by Southern people about the affection of slaves for their 
masters and mistresses ; and a part of it, at least, is true. A plot for an 
uprising could scarcely be devised and communicated to twenty individ- 
uals before some one of them, to save the life of a favorite master or mis- 
tress, would divulge it. This is tbe rule ; and the slave revolution in 
Hayti was not an exception to it, but a case occurring under peculiar cir- 
cumstances. The gunpowder plot of British history, though uot connect- 
ed with slaves, was more in point. In that case, only about twenty were 
admitted to the secret ; and yet one of them, in his anxiety to save a 
friend, betrayed the plot to that friend, and, by consequence, averted the 
calamity. Occasional poisonings from the kitchen, and open or stealthy 
assassinations in the field, and local revolts, extending to a score or so, 
will continue to occur as the natural results of slavery ; but no general 
insurrection of slaves, as I think, can happen in this country for a long 
time. "Whoever much fears or much hopes for such au event will be alike 
disappointed. 

In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, •' It is still in 
our power to direct the process of emancipation and deportation peace 
ably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil will wear off insensibly; 
and their places be, pari passu, filled up by free white laborers. If, on 
the contrary, it is left to force itself on, human nature must, shudder at 
the prospect held up." 

Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of emanci- 
pation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia ; and, as to 
the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding States only. The 
Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of restraining 
the extension of the institution— the power to insure that a slave insur- 
rection shall never occur on any American soil which is now free from 
slavery. 

John Brown's effort was peculiar. It was not a slave insurrection. It 
was an attempt by white men to get up a revolt among slaves, in which 
the slaves refused to participate. In fact, it was so absurd that the slaves, 
witli all their ignorance, saw plainly enough it could not succeed. That 
affair, in its philosophy, corresponds with the many attempts related in 
history at the assassination of kings and emperors. An enthusiast broods 
over the oppression of a people till he fancies himself commissioned by 
Heaven to liberate them. He ventures the attempt, which ends in little 
else than his own execution. Orsini'a attempt on Louis Napoleon and 
John Brown's attempt at Harper's Ferry were, in their philosophy, pre- 
cisely the same. The eagerness to cast blame on old England in the one 
case, and on New England in the other, does not disprove the sameness 
of the two things. 



96 The Life, Public Services, and 

And how much would it avail you, if you could, by the use of John 
Brown, Helper's Book, and the like, break up the Republican organiza- 
tion? Human action can be modified to some extent, but human naturo 
cannot be changed. There is a judgment and a feeling against slavery in 
this nation, which cast at least a million and a half of votes. You cannot 
destroy tbat judgment and feeling — that sentiment — by breaking up the 
political organization which rallies around it. You can scarcely scatter 
and disperse an army which has been formed into order in the face of 
your heaviest fire ; but if you could, how much would you gain by forcing 
the sentiment which created it out of the peaceful channel of the ballot- 
box, into some other channel? What would that other channel probably 
be? Would the number of John Browns be lessened or enlarged by the 
operation ? 

But you will break up the Union rather than submit to a denial of your 
Constitutional rights. 

That has a somewhat reckless sound ; but it would be palliated, if not 
fully justified, were we proposing, by the mere force of numbers, to de- 
prive you of some right plainly written down in the Constitution. But 
we are proposing no such thing. 

When you make these declarations, you have a specific and well-under- 
stood allusion to an assumed Constitutional right of yours to take slaves 
into the Federal Territories, and to hold them there as property. But no 
such right is specifically written in the Constitution. That instrument is 
literally silent about any such right. We, on the contrary, deny that 
such a right has any existence in the Constitution, even by implication. 

Your purpose, then, plainly stated, is, that you will destroy the Gov- 
ernment unless you be allowed to construe and enforce the Constitution 
as you please on all points in dispute between you and us. You will rule 
or ruin, in all events. 

This, plainly stated, is your language. Perhaps you will say the -Su- 
preme Court has decided the disputed Constitutional question in your 
favor. Not quite so. But, waiving the lawyer's distinction between dic- 
tum and decision, the Court have decided the question for you in a sort 
of way. The Court have substantially said, it h your Constitutional right 
to take slaves into the Federal Territories, and to hold them there as 
property. When I say the decision was made in a sort of way, I mean it 
was made in a divided Court, by a bare majority of the judges, and they 
not quite agreeing with one another in the reasons for making it; that it 
is so made as that its avowed supporters disagree with one another about 
its meaning, and that it was mainly based upon a mistaken statement of 
fact — the statement in the opinion that "the right of property in a slave 
is distinctly and expressly affirmed in the Constitution." 

An inspection of the Constitution will show that the right of property 
in a slave is not " distinctly and expressly affirmed" in it. Bear in mind, 
the judges do not pledge their judicial opinion that such right is imjrticd 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 97 

ly affirmed in the Constitution ; but they pledge their veracity that it is 
" distinctly and expressly" affirmed there — "distinctly," that is, not 
mingled with any thing else — "expressly," that is, in words meaning just 
that, without the aid of any inference, and susceptible of no other meaning. 

If they had only pledged their judicial opinion that such right is 
affirmed in the instrument by implication, it would be open to others to 
show that neither the word "slave" nor "slavery" is to be found in the 
Constitution, nor the word " property" even, in any connection with Ian 
guage alluding to the things slave or slavery, and that wherever in that 
instrument the slave is alluded to, he is called a " person ;"— and wher- 
ever his master's legal right in relation to him is alluded to, it is spoken 
of as "service or labor which maybe due," — as a debt payable in service 
or labor. Also, it would be open to show, by contemporaneous history, 
that this mode of alluding to slaves and slavery, instead of speaking of 
them, was employed on purpose to exclude from the Constitution the 
idea that there could be property in man. 

To show all this, is easy and certain. 

When this obvious mistake of the judges shall be brought to their no- 
tice, is it not reasonable to expect that they will withdraw the mistaken 
statement, and reconsider the conclusion based upon it? 

And then it is to be remembered that "our fathers, who framed tin? 
Government under which we live" — the men who made the Constitution 
■ — deeded this same Constitutional question in our favor, long ago — 
decided it without division among themselves, when making the decision ; 
without division among themselves about the meaning of it after it was 
made, and, so far as any evidence is left, without basing it upon any mis- 
taken statement of facts. 

Under all these circumstances, do you really feel yourselves justified to 
bleak up this Government, unless such a court decision as yours is shall 
be at once submitted to as a conclusive and final rule of political action ? 
But you will not abide the election of a Republican president ! In that 
(supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union ; and then, you say, 
the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! That is cool. A 
highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, 
" Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer !" 

To be sure, what the robber demanded of me — my money — was my 
own; and I had a clear right to keep it; but it was no more my own 
than my vote is my own ; and the threat of death to me, to extort my 
money, and the threat of destruction to the Union, to extort iny\ote, 
can scarcely be distinguished in principle. 

A few words now to Republicans. It is exceedingly desirable that all 
parts of this great Confederacy shall be at peace, and in harmony ono 
with another. Let us Republicans do our part to have it so. Even though 
much provoked, let us do nothing through passion and ill temper. Even 
iliough the southern people will not so much as listen to us, let us calmly 
1 



98 The Life, Public Services, and 

consider their demands, and yield to them if, in our deliberate viein of ov.r 
duty, we possibly can. Judging by all they say and do, and by the sub- 
ject and nature of their controversy with us, let us determine, if we can, 
what will satisfy them. 

Will they be satisfied if the Territories be unconditionally surrendered 
to them? We know they will not. In all their present complaints 
against us, the Territories are scarcely mentioned. Invasions and insur- 
rections are the rage now. Will it satisfy them if, in the future, we have 
nothing to do with invasions and insurrections? We know it will not. 
We so know, because we know we never had any thing to do with in- 
vasions and insurrections ; and yet this total abstaining does not exempt 
us from the charge and the denunciation. 

The question recurs, what will satisfy them ? Simply this: We must 
not only let them alone, but we must, somehow, convince them that we 
do let them alone. This, we know by experience, is no easy task. Wo 
have been so trying to convince them from the very beginning of our or- 
ganization, but with no success. In all our platforms and speeches we 
have constantly protested our purpose to let them alone ; but this has had 
no tendency to convince them. Alike unavailing to convince them is the 
fact that they have never detected a man of us in any attempt to disturb 
them. 

These natural and apparently adequate means all failing, what will con- 
vince them ? This, and this only : cease to call slavery wrong, and join 
them in calling it right. And this must be done thoroughly — done in 
acts as well as in words. Silence will not be tolerated — we must place 
ourselves avowedly with them. Senator Douglas's new sedition law must 
be enacted and enforced, suppressing all declarations that slavery is 
wrong, whether made in politics, in presses, in pulpits, or in private. 
We must arrest and return their fugitive slaves with greedy pleasure. 
We must pull down our Free State constitutions. The whole atmosphere 
must be disinfected from all taint of opposition to slavery, before they 
will cease to believe that all their troubles proceed from us. 

I am quite aware they do not state their case precisely in this way. 
Most of them would probably say to us, "Let us alone, do nothing to us, 
and say what you please about slavery." But we do let them alone— 
have never disturbed them — so that, after all, it is what we say which 
dissatisfies them. They will continue to accuse us of doing, until we 
cease saying. 

I am also aware they have not* as yet, in terms, demanded the over- 
throw of our Free State Constitutions. Yet those Constitutions declare 
the wrong of slavery, with more solemn emphasis than do all other 
sayings against it; and when all these other sayings shall have been 
silenced, the overthrow of these Constitutions will be demanded, and 
nothing be left to resist the demand. It is nothing to the contrary, that 
they do not demand the whole of this just now. Demanding what they 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 99 

do, and for the reason they do, they can voluntarily stop nowhere short 
of this consummation. Holding, as they do, that slavery is morally 
right, and socially elevating, they cannot cease to demand a full national 
recognition of it, as a legal right and a social hlessing. 

Nor can we justifiably withhold this on any ground 6ave our conviction 
that slavery is wrong. If slavery is right, all words, acts, laws, and con- 
stitutions against it are themselves wrong, and should be silenced and 
swept away. If it is right, we cannot justly object to its nationality — its 
universality ; if it is wrong, they cannot justly insist upon its extension — 
its enlargement. All they ask we could readily grant, if we thought 
slavery right; all we ask they could as readily grant, if they thought it 
wrong. Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise 
fact upon which depends the whole controversy. Thinking it right, as 
they do, they are not to blame for desiring its full recognition, as being 
right ; but, thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them ? Can we 
cast our votes with their view, and against our own? In view of our 
moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this? 

"Wrong as we think slavery is, we can yet afford to let it alone where it 
is, because that much is duo to the necessity arising from its actual pres- 
ence in the nation ; but can we, while our votes will prevent it, allow it 
to spread into the National Territories, and to overrun us here in these 
Free States ? If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us stand by our 
duty, fearlessly and effectively. Let us be diverted by none of those so- 
phistical contrivances wherewith we are 60 industriously plied and bela- 
bored — contrivances such as groping for some middle ground between the 
right and the wrong, vain as the search for a man who should be neither 
a living man nor a dead man — such as a policy of " don't care" on a 
question about which all true men do care — such as Union appeals be- 
seeching true Union men to yield to Disunionists, reversing the divine 
rule, and calling, not the sinners, but the righteous to repentance — such 
as invocations to Washington, imploring men to unsay what Washington 
said, and undo what "Washington did. 

Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against 
us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government 
nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let va have faith that Right makes 
Might, and in that faith let its, to the end, daee to do oue duty as 
we undeestand it. 

The pre-eminent ability displayed in this address, com- 
pelled the people of the Middle and Eastern States to 
acknowledge that Mr. Lincoln was not only one of the 
foremost men of the West, but of the whole country, and 
this estimate was confirmed by the speeches which he 
subsequently delivered in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and 



100 The Life, Public Services, and 

New Hampshire. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to state 
that the joint effect of these efforts— more particularly hia 
speech at Cooper Institute — and of his debates with Mr. 
Douglas, was to make Mr. Lincoln decidedly the second 
choice of the great body of the Republicans of New 
York, as the candidate of the Republican party for the 
campaign of 1S60. 

Some incidents of this visit to New York, illustrate the 
simplicity and earnestness of the character of our late 
President so forcibly, that they are well deserving being 
placed on record. A prominent member of the Young 
Mens Republican Association, who was thrown much 
in Mr. Lincoln' s company during his brief stay, writes : 

During the day, before the delivery of the address, a friend of Mr. 
Lincoln called at the Astor House, where he was staying, and suggested that 
the orator should be taken up Broadway and shown the city, of which he 
knew but little, stating, I think, that he had been here but once before. We 
accompanied him to several large establishments, with all of which he 
seemed much amused. 

At one place he met an Illinois acquaintance of former years, to whom 
he said, in his dry, good-natured way : " Well, B., how have you fared 
since you left Illinois?" To which B. replied, " I have made one hundred 
thousand dollars and lost it all ; how is it with you, Mr. Lincoln ?" " Oh, 
very well," said Mr. Lincoln ; " I have the cottage at Springfield and about 
$3,000 in money. If they make me Vice-President with Reward, as some 
say they will, I hope I shall be able to increase it to $20,000, and that is 
as much as any man ought to want." 

We visited a photographic establishment upon the corner of Broadway 
and Bleecker street, where he sat for his picture, the first taken in New 
York. At the gallery he met and was introduced to George Bancroft, 
and had a brief conversation with that gentleman, who welcomed him to 
New York. The contrast in the appearance of the men was most striking 
— the one courtly and precise in his every word and gesture, with the air 
of a trans-Atlantic statesman ; the other bluff and awkward, his every 
utterance an apology for his ignorance of metropolitan manners and cus- 
toms. "I am on my way to Massachusetts," said he to Mr. Bancroft, 
" where I have a son at school, who, if report be true, already knows 
much more than his father." 

A teacher at the Five Points House of Industry tells 
this touching incident, which doubtless transpired during 
the same visit : 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 101 

Our Sunday School in the Five Points was assembled, one Sabbath 
morning, when I noticed a tall, remarkable looking man enter the room 
and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention to our exer- 
cises, and his countenance expressed such genuine interest tbat I ap- 
proached, him and suggested that he might be willing to say something to 
the children. He accepted the invitation with evident pleasure ; and,, 
coming forward, began a simple address, which at once fascinated every 
little hearer and hushed the room into silence. His language was stri- 
kingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intensest feeling. The littlo 
faces around him would droop into sad conviction as he uttered sentences 
of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke cheerful words 
of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his remarks, but tho 
imperative shout of " Go on I" " Oh, do go on !" would compel him to 
resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame of the stranger, 
and marked his powerful head and determined features, now touched into 
softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an irrepressible curiosity 
to learn something more about him, and when he was quietly leaving the 
room I begged to know his name. He courteously replied, " It is Abraham 
Lincoln, from Illinois." 

The following letter, written during this same period, 
in reply to an invitation to attend a festival in honor of 
the anniversary of Jefferson's birthday, given by the 
Republicans of Boston, is thoroughly characteristic of 
Mr. Lincoln in the quaint humor of its illustration : 

Springfield, Illinois, April 6, 1S59. 

Gentlemen: — Your kind note inviting me to attend a festival in Boston 
on the 13th instant, in honor of the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, was 
duly received. My engagements are such that I cannot attend 

The Democracy of to-day hold the liberty of one man to be absolutely 
nothing, when in conflict with another man's right of property. Eepub- 
licans, on the contrary, are both for the man and the dollar, but, in case 
of conflict, the man before the dollar. 

I remember being once much amused at seeing two partially intoxi* 
cated men engaged in a fight with their great-coats on, which fight, after 
a long and rather harmless contest, ended in each having fought himself 
out of his own coat, and into that of the other. If the two leading par- 
ties of this day are really identical with the two in the days of Jefferson 
and Adams, they have performed the same feat as the two drunken men. 

But, soberly, it is now' no child's play to save the principles of Jeffer- 

con from total overthrow in this nation This is a world of 

compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no 
slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; 
and, under a just God, cannot long retain it. 



102 The Life, Public Services, and 

r All honor to Jefferson ; to a man who, in the concrete pressure of a 
struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, 
forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary docu- 
ment an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to 
embalm it there, that to-day and in all coming days it shall be a rebuke 
and a stumbling-block to the harbingers of reappearing tyranny and 
oppression. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 
Messrs. IT. L. Pierce, and others, etc. 

But we turn from this episode to resume the formal 
record of Mr. Lincoln' s political career. 

The Republican National Convention of 1860 met on the 
16th of May, at Chicago, in an immense building which 
the people of that city had put up for the purpose, called 
the AVigwam. There were four hundred and sixty-five 
delegates. The city was tilled with earnest men, who 
had come there to press the claims of their favorite can- 
didates, and the halls and corridors of all the hotels 
swarmed and buzzed with an eager crowd, in and out of 
which darted or pushed or wormed their way the various 
leaders of party politics. Mr. Chase, Mr. Bates, and Mr. 
Cameron were spoken of and pressed somewhat as candi- 
dates, but from the first it was evident that the contest 
lay between Mr. Seward and Mr. Lincoln. 

Judge Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, was chosen temporary 
Chairman of the Convention, and in the afternoon of the 
first day a permanent organization was effected, by the 
choice of George Ashmnn, of Massachusetts, as presi- 
dent, with twenty-seven vice-presidents and twenty-live 
secretaries. On Thursday, the 17th, the Committee on 
Resolutions reported the platform, which was enthusiasti- 
cally adopted. A motion was made to proceed to the 
nomination at once, and if that had been done the result 
of the Convention might have proved very different, as 
at that time it was thought that Mr. Seward's chances 
were the best, But an adjournment was taken till the 
morning, and during the night the combinations were 
made which resulted in the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. 
The excitement of the Convention and of the audience on 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 103 

the morning of Friday was intense. The Illinoisans had 
turned out in great numbers, zealous for Lincoln ; and 
though the other States, near and far, had sent many men 
who were equally zealous for Mr. Seward, it was quite 
clear that Mr. Lincoln's supporters were in the majority 
in the audience. The first ballot gave Mr. Seward one 
hundred and seventy-three ' and a half votes to one hun- 
dred and two for Mr. Lincoln, the rest being scattered. 
On the second ballot the first indication of the result was 
felt, when the chairman of the Vermont delegation, which 
had been divided on the ' previous ballot, announced, 
when the name of that State was called, that " Vermont 
casts her ten votes for the young giant of the West, 
Abraham Lincoln." On the second ballot, Mr. Seward 
had one hundred and eighty-four and a half to one hun- 
dred and eighty-one for Mr. Lincoln, and on the third bal- 
lot Mr. Lincoln received two hundred and thirty votes, be- 
ing within one and a half of a majority. The vote was not 
announced, but so many everywhere had kept the count 
that it was known throughout the Convention at once. 
Mr. Carter, of Ohio, rose and announced a change in the 
vote of the Ohio delegation of four votes in favor of Mr. 
Lincoln, and the Convention at once burst into a state 
of the wildest excitement. The cheers of the audience 
within were answered by those of a yet larger crowd 
without, to whom the result was announced. Cannon 
roared, and bands played, and banners waved, and the 
excited Republicans of Chicago cheered themselves 
hoarse, while on the wings of electricity sped all over 
the country the news of Mr. Lincoln's nomination, to be 
greeted everywhere with similar demonstrations. It was 
long before the Convention could calm itself enough to 
proceed to business. When it did, other States changed 
their votes in favor of the successful nominee, until it 
was announced, as the result of the third ballot, that 
Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, had received three hun- 
dred and fifty-four votes, and was nominated by the Re- 
publican party for the office of President of the United 
States. The nomination was then, on the motion of Mr. 



104 The Life, Public Services, and 

Evarts, of New York, made unanimous, and the Conven- 
tion adjourned till the afternoon, when they completed, 
their work "by nominating Hannibal Hamlin for Vice- 
President. 

Mr. Lincoln was at Springfield at the time. He had 
been in the telegraph-office during the casting of the first 
and second ballots, but then left, and went over to the 
office of the State Journal, where he was sitting convers- 
ing with friends while the third ballot was being taken. 
In a few moments came across the wires the announce- 
ment of the result. The Superintendent of the Telegraph 
Company, who was present, wrote on a scrap of paper, 
"Mr. Lincoln : You are nominated on the third ballot," 
and a boy ran with the message to Mr. Lincoln. He 
looked at it in silence amid the shouts of those around 
him ; then rising and putting it in his pocket, he said 
quietlj*, "There's a little woman down at our house 
would like to hear this — I'll go down and tell her." 

Next day there arrived at Springfield the committee 
appointed by the Convention to inform Mr. Lincoln 
officially of his nomination. They waited upon him at 
his residence, and Mr. Ashmun, President of the Conven 
tion, addressing Mr. Lincoln, said : 

I have, sir, the honor, in behalf of the gentlemen who are present — 
a Committee appointed by the Republican Convention recently assembled 
at Chicago — to discharge a most pleasant duty. We have come, sir, 
under a vote of instructions to that Committee, to notify you that yon 
have been selected by the Convention of the Republicans at Chicago for 
President of the United States. They instruct us, sir, to notify you of 
that selection, and that Committee deem it not only respectful to yourself, 
but appropriate to the important matter which they have in band, that 
they should come in person, and present to you the authentic evidence of 
the action of that Convention ; and, sir, without any phrase which shall 
either be considered personally plauditory to yourself, or which shall have 
any reference to the principles involved in the questions which are con- 
nected with your nomination, I desire to present to you the letter which 
has been prepared, and which informs you of your nomination, and with 
it the platform resolutions and sentiments which the Convention adopted. 
Sir at your convenience we shall be glad to receive from you such a re- 
6ponse as it may be your pleasure to give us. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 105 

Mr. Lincoln listened to this address "u lth a degree of 
grave dignity that almost wore the appearance of sadness, 
and after a brief pause, in which he seemed to be ponder- 
ing the momentous responsibilities of his position, he 
replied : — 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee: — I tender to yon, 
and through you to the Republican National Convention, and all tlie people 
represented in it, my profoundest thanks for the high honor done me, 
which you now formally announce. Deeply, and even painfully sensible 
of the great responsibility which is inseparable from this high honor — a 
responsibility which I could almost wish had fallen upon some one of the 
far more eminent men and experienced statesmen whose distinguished 
names were before the Convention — I shall, by your leave, consider more 
fully the resolutions of the Convention, denominated the platform, and, 
without any unnecessary or unreasonable delay, respond to you, Mr. 
Chairman, in writing, not doubting that the platform will be found satis- 
factory, and the nomination gratefully accepted. 

And now I will not longer defer the pleasure of taking you, and each of 
you, by the hand. 

Tall Judge Kelly, of Pennsylvania, who was one of the 
committee, and who is himself a great many feet high, had 
meanwhile been eying Mr. Lincoln's lofty form with a 
mixture of admiration, and possibly jealousy ; this had 
not escaped Mr. Lincoln, and as he shook hands with the 
judge he inquired, " What is your height ?" 

" Six feet three. What is yours, Mr. Lincoln ?" 

" Six feet four." 

" Then," said the judge, " Pennsylvania bows to Illi 
nois. My dear man, for years my heart has been aching 
for a President that I could look iqi to, and I've found him 
at last in the land where we thought there were none but 
little giants." 

Mr. Lincoln's formal reply to the official announcement 
of his nomination was as follows : — 

Springfield, Illinois, May 23, 1S60. 
Sir : — I accept the nomination tendered me by the Convention over 
which you presided, of which I am formally apprised in a letter of your- 
self and others acting as a Committee of the Convention for that pur- 
pose. The declaration of principles and sentiments which accompanies 
your letter meets my approval, and it shall be my care not to violate it, 



106 The Life, Public Services, and 

or disregard it in any part. Imploring the assistance of Divine Provi- 
dence, and with due regard to the views and feelings of all who were 
represented in the Convention, to the rights of all the States and Territories 
and people of the nation, to the inviolability of the Constitution, and the 
perpetual union, harmony, and prosperity of all, I am most happy to co- 
operate for the practical success of the principles declared hy the Con- 
vention. Your obliged friend and fellow -citizen, 

Abraham Lincoln. 
Hon. George AsmiuN, 
i President of the Republican Convention. 

Mr. Lincoln' s nomination proved universally acceptable 
to the Republican party. Its members recognized in him 
a man of firm principles, of ardent love for freedom, of 
strict integrity and truth, and they yvent into the political 
contest with a zeal and enthusiasm which was the guaran- 
tee of victory ; while the doubt and uncertainty, the 
divided counsels and wavering purposes of their oppo- 
nents were the sure precursors of defeat. 

His nomination was the signal to the leaders of the 
slaveholders 1 party for pressing upon the Democratic Con- 
vention their most ultra views, that by the division of the 
Democratic forces the victory of Mr. Lincoln might be 
assured, and the pretext afforded them for carrying into 
execution the plot against the liberties of the country 
which they had been for so many years maturing. That 
they would dare to carry their threat of rebellion into exe- 
cution, was not believed at the North. If it had been, 
while it might have frightened away some votes from Mr. 
Lincoln, it would have brought him substantial acces- 
sions from the ranks of those who, though folloAving the 
Democratic banner, had not learned to disregard the good 
old doctrine that the majority must rule, and who would 
have rushed to its rescue, if they had believed that it waa 
really threatened. The vote which he received on Novem- 
ber 6, 1860, was that of a solid phalanx of earnest men, 
who had resolved that freedom should henceforth be 
national, and that slavery should remain as the framers of 
the Constitution intended that it should remain. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 107 



CHAPTER IV. 

FROM THE ELECTION, NOV. 6, 18G0, TO THE INAUGURATION, 
MARCH 4, 1SG1. 

The Presidential Election. — Secession of Soutii Carolina. — Forma- 
tion of TriE Rebel Confederacy. — The Objects of Secession. — Se- 
cession Movements in Washington. — Debates in Congress. — Tub 
Crittenden Resolutions. — Conciliatory Action of Congress. — The 
Peace Conference. — Action of Congress. — The Secession Move- 
ment Unchecked. 

Abraham Lincoln was elected to be President of the 
United States on the sixth, day of November, I860. The 
preliminary canvass had not been marked by any very 
extraordinary features. Party lines were a good deal 
broken up, and four presidential candidates were in 
the field ; but this departure from the ordinary course of 
party contests had occurred more than once in the pre- 
vious political history of the country. Mr. Lincoln was 
put in nomination by the Republican party, and repre- 
sented in his life and opinions the precise aim and object 
for which that party had been formed. He was a native 
of a slaveholding State ; and while he had been opposed 
to slavery, he had regarded it as a local institution, the 
creature of local laws, with which the National Govern- 
ment of the United States had nothing whatever to do. 
But, in common with all observant public men, he had 
watched with distrust and apprehension the advance of 
slavery, as an element of political power, towards ascend- 
ency in the Government of the nation, and had cordially 
co-operated with those who thought it absolutely neces- 
sary for the future well-being of the country that this 
advance should be checked. He had, therefore, op- 
posed very strenuously the extension of slavery into the 
Territories, and had asserted the right and the duty of 
Congress to exclude it by positive legislation there- 
from. 



10S TnE Life, Public Services, and 

The Chicago Convention, which .nominated Mr. Lin- 
coln, adopted a platform of which this was the cardinal 
feature ; but it also took good care to repel the imputa- 
tion of its political opponents, and to remove the appre- 
hensions of the South, that the party proposed to interfere 
with slavery in the States whose laws gave it support 
and protection. It expressly disavowed all authority 
and all wish for such interference, and declared its pur- 
pose to protect the Southern States in the free enjoyment 
of all their constitutional rights. The Democratic Con- 
vention, originally assembled at Charleston, was disposed 
to make Mr. Douglas its candidate in opposition to Mr. 
Lincoln ; but this purpose was thwarted by leading pol- 
iticians of the slaveholding States, who procured the 
nomination of Mr. Breckinridge, with full knowledge of 
the fact that this would divide the Democratic party, and 
in all probability secure the election of Mr. Lincoln. Mr. 
Breckinridge represented the pro-slavery element of the 
Democratic party, and asserted the duty of the National 
Government, by a positive exercise of its legislative and 
executive power, to protect slavery in the Territories 
against any legislation either of Congress or of the people 
of the Territories themselves, which should seek to impair 
in any degree the right, alleged to be recognized in the 
Constitution, of property in slaves. Mr. Douglas sup- 
ported the theory that the people of the Territories,, 
acting through their territorial legislature, had the same 
right to decide this question for themselves as they had 
to decide any other ; and he represented this principle in 
opposition to Mr. Lincoln on the one hand, and Mr. 
Breckinridge on the other, in the presidential canvass. " 
John Bell, of Tennessee, was also made a candidate by 
the action mainly of men who were dissatisfied with all 
the existing political parties, and who were alarmed at 
the probable results of a presidential election which 
promised to be substantially sectional in its character. 
They put forth, therefore, no opinions upon the leading 
points in controversy ; and went into the canvass with 
•'the Constitution, the Union, and the enforcement of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 109 

laws" as their platform, — one upon which they could 
easily have rallied all the people of all sections of the 
country, but for the fact, which they seemed to overlook, 
that the widest possible differences of opinion prevailed 
among the people as to its meaning. 

All sections of. the country took part in the election. 
The Southern States were quite as active and quite as 
zealous as the Northern in carrying on the canvass. 
Public meetings were held, the newspaper press, South 
as well as North, discussed the issues involved with 
energy and vigor, and every thing on the surface indi- 
cated the usual termination of the contest, the triumph of 
one party and the peaceful acquiescence of all others. 
The result, however, showed that this was a mistake. 
The active and controlling politicians of the Southern 
States had gone into the canvass with the distinct and 
well-formed purpose of acquiescing in the result only in 
the event of its giving them the victory. The election 
took place on the 6th of November. Mr. Lincoln re- 
ceived the electoral votes of all the Free States except 
New Jersey, which was divided, giving him four votes 
and Mr. Douglas three. Mr. Breckinridge received the 
electoral votes of all the Slave States except Kentucky, 
Tennessee, and Virginia, which voted for Bell, and Mis- 
souri, which voted for Douglas, as did three electors from 
New Jersey also. Of the popular vote, Lincoln received 
1,857,610; Douglas, 1,365,976 ; Breckinridge, 847,953 ; 
and Bell, 590,631. In the Electoral College, Lincoln 
received ISO votes, Douglas 12, Breckinridge 72, and 
Bell 39. 

As soon as the result of the election was known, 
various movements in the Southern States indicated their 
purpose of resistance ; and it soon became evident that 
tliis purpose had been long cherished, and that members 
of the Government under the presidency of Mr. Buchanan 
had officially given it their sanction and aid. On the 
29th of October, General Scott sent to the President and 
John B. Floyd, his Secretary of War, a letter expressing 
apprehensions lest the Southern people should seize some 



110 The Life, Public Services, and 

of the Federal forts in the Southern States, and advising 
that they should be immediately garrisoned by way of 
precaution. The Secretary of War, according to state- 
ments subsequently made by one of his eulogists in 
Virginia, "thwarted, objected, resisted, and forbade" 
the adoption of those measures, which, according to the 
same authority, if carried into execution, would have 
defeated the conspiracy, and rendered impossible the 
formation of a Southern Confederacy. An official report 
from the Ordnance Department, dated January 16, 1861, 
also shows that during the year 1860, and previous to 
the presidential election, one hundred and fifteen thou- 
sand muskets had been removed from Northern armories 
and sent to Southern arsenals by a single order of the 
Secretary of War, issued on the 30th of December, 1859. 
On the 20th of November, the Attorney General, Hon. 
John S. Black, in reply to inquiries of the President, 
gave him the official opinion that Congress had no right 
to carry on war against any State, either to prevent a 
threatened violation of the Constitution or to enforce an 
acknowledgment that the Government of the United States 
is supreme : and it soon became evident that the Presi- 
dent adopted this theory as the basis and guide of his 
executive action. 

South Carolina took the lead in the secession movement. 
Her legislature assembled on the 4th of November, 1S60, 
and, after casting the electoral vote of the State for John 
C. Breckinridge to be President of the United States, 
passed an act the next day calling a State Convention, to 
meet at Columbia on the 17th of December. On the 10th, 
F. W. Pickens was elected Governor, and, in his inaugu- 
ral, declared the determination of the State to secede, on 
the ground that, ' ' in the recent election for President and 
Vice-President, the North had carried the election upon 
principles that make it no longer safe for us to rely upon 
the powers of the Federal Government or the guarantees 
of the Federal compact. This," he added, "is the great 
overt act of the people of the Northern States, who pro- 
pose to inaugurate a chief magistrate not to presidt 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. Ill 

the common interests or destinies of all States alike, but 
upon issues of malignant hostility and uncompromising 
war to be waged upon the rights, the interests, and the 
peace of half of the States of this Union." The Conven- 
tion met on the 17th of December, and adjourned the next 
day to Charleston, on account of the prevalence of small- 
pox at Columbia. On the 20th an ordinance was passed 
unanimously repealing the ordinance adopted May 23, 
1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States was 
ratified, and "dissolving the Union now subsisting be- 
tween South Carolina and other States under the name of 
the United States of America ;" and on the 24th the Gov- 
ernor issued his proclamation, declaring the State of 
South Carolina to be a "separate, sovereign, free, and 
independent State." 

This was the first act of secession passed by any State. 
The debates in the State Convention show clearly enough 
that it was not taken under the impulse of resentment for 
any sharp and remediless wrong, nor in apprehension that 
any such wrong would be inflicted ; but in pursuance of 
a settled and long-cherished purpose. In that debate Mr. 
Parker said that the movement was "no spasmodic effort 
— it had been gradually culminating for a long series of 
years." Mr. Inglis indorsed this remark, and added, 
" Most of us have had this matter under consideration for 
the last twenty years." Mr. L. M. Keitt said, "I have 
.been engaged in this movement ever since I entered polit- 
ical life." And Mr. Rhett, who had been for many years 
in the public service, declared that "the secession of 
South Carolina was not the event of a day. It is not," 
said he, "any thing produced by Mr. Lincoln's election, 
or by the non-execution of the fugitive slave law. It 
is a matter which has been gathering head for thirty years. 
The election of Lincoln and Hamlin was the last straw on 
the back of the camel. But it was not the only one. The 
back was nearly broken before." So far as South Caro- 
lina was concerned, there can be no doubt that her action 
was decided by men who had been plotting disunion for 
thirty years, not on account of any wrongs her people had 



112 The Life, Public Services, and 

sustained at the hands of the Federal Government, "but 
from motives of personal and sectional ambition, and for 
the purpose of establishing a government which should be 
permanently and completely in the interest of slavery. 

Bat the disclosures which have since been made, imper- *■' 
feet comparatively as they are, prove clearly that the 
Whole secession movement was in the hands of a few 
conspirators, who had their head-quarters at the national 
capital, and were themselves closely connected with the 
Government of the United States. A secret meeting of 
these men was held at Washington on the night of the 
5th of January, 1861, at which the Senators from Georgia, 
Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Mississippi, and 
Florida were present. They decided, by resolutions, that 
each of the Southern States should secede from the Union 
as soon as possible ; that a convention of seceding States 
should be held at Montgomery, Alabama, not later than 
the 15th of February ; and that the Senators and Members 
of Congress from the Southern States ought to remain in 
their seats as long as possible, in order to defeat measures 
that might be proposed at Washington hostile to the seces- 
sion movement. Davis of Mississippi, Slidell of Louis- 
iana, and Mallory of Florida, were appointed a com- 
mittee to carry these decisions into effect ; and, in pursuance 
of them, Mississippi passed an ordinance of secession 
January 9th ; Alabama and Florida, January 11th ; Louis- 
iana, January 26th, and Texas, February 5th. All these 
acts, as well as all which followed, were simply the execu- 
tion of the behests of this secret conclave of conspirators 
who had resolved upon secession. In all the conventions 
of the seceding States, delegates were appointed to meet 
at Montgomery. In not one of them was the question of 
secession submitted to a vote of the people ; although in 
some of them the legislatures had expressly forbidden 
them to pass any ordinance of secession without making 
its validity depend on its ratification by the popular vote. 
The Convention met at Montgomery on the 4th of Febru- 
ary, and adopted a provisional constitution, to continue 
in operation for one year. Under this constitution Jeffer 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 113 

son Dayis was elected President of the new Confederacy, 
and Alex. H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-President. Both 
were inaugurated on the 18th. In an address delivered on 
his arrival at Montgomery, Mr. Davis declared that "the 
time for compromise has now passed, and the South is 
determined to maintain her position, and make all who 
oppose her smell Southern powder and feel Southern 
steel, if coercion is persisted in." He felt sure of the 
result ; it might be they would ' ' have to encounter incon- 
veniences at the beginning," but he had no doubts of the 
final issue. The first part of his anticipation has been 
fully realized ; the end has hardly proved to be as peace- 
ful and satisfactory as he predicted. 

The policy of the new Confederacy towards the United 
States was soon officially made known. The government 
decided to maintain the status quo until the expiration of 
Mr. Buchanan's term, feeling assured that, with his de- 
clared belief that it would be unconstitutional to coerce a 
State, they need apprehend from his administration no 
active hostility to their designs. They had some hope 
that, by the 4th of March, their new Confederacy would 
be so far advanced that the new Administration might 
waive its purpose of coercion ; and they deemed it wise 
not to do any thing which should rashly forfeit the favor 
and support of "that very large portion of the North 
whose moral sense was on their side." Nevertheless, they 
entered upon prompt and active preparations for war. 
Contracts were made in various parts of the South for the 
manufacture of powder, shell, cannon-balls, and other 
munitions of war. Recruiting was set on foot in several 
of the States. A plan was adopted for the organization 
of a regular army of the Confederacy, and on the 6th of 
March Congress passed an act authorizing a military force 
of one hundred thousand men. 

Thus was opened a new chapter in the history of Amer- 
ica. Thus were taken the first steps towards overthrow- 
ing the Government and Constitution of the United States, 
and establishing a new nation, with a new Constitution, 
resting upon new principles, and aiming at new results. 

8 



114 The Life, Public Services, and 

The Constitution of the United States "was ordained "in 
order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, in- 
sure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of 
Liberty to ourselves and our posterity." We have the 
clear and explicit testimony of A. H. Stephens, the Vice- 
President of the rebel Confederacy, echoing and reaffirm- 
ing that of the whole civilized world to the fact, that 
these high and noble objects — the noblest and the grandest 
at which human institutions can aim — have been more 
nearly attained in the practical working of the Govern- 
ment of the United States than anywhere else on the face 
of the earth. " I look upon this country, with our insti- 
tutions," said Mr. Stephens before the legislature of 
Georgia, on the 14th of November, 1860, after the result 
of the presidential election was known, " as the Eden of 
the world, the paradise of the universe. It may be that 
out of it we may become greater and more prosperous, 
but I am candid and sincere in telling you that I fear, if 
we rashly evince passion, and without sufficient cause 
shall take that step, that instead of becoming greater, or 
more peaceful, prosperous, and happy — instead of becom- . 
ing gods we will become demons, and at no distant day 
commence cutting each other's throats." Mr. Stephens 
on that occasion went on, in a strain of high patriotism 
and common sense, to speak of the proposed secession of 
the State of Georgia, in language which will forever stand 
as a judicial condemnation of the action of the rebel States. 
"The first question that presents itself," said Mr. Stephens, 
"is, shall the people of the South secede from the Union 
in consequence of the election of Mr. Lincoln to the Presi- 
dency of the United States \ My countrymen, I tell you 
candidly, frankly, and earnestly, that I do not think that 
they ought. In my judgment the election of no man, con- 
stitutionally chosen to that high office, is sufficient cause 
for any State to separate from the Union. It ought to 
stand by and aid still in maintaining the Constitution of 
the country. To make a point of resistance to the gov- 
ernment, to withdraw from it because a man has been 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 115 

constitutionally elected, puts us in tlie wrong. * * We 
went into the election with this people. The result was 
different from what we wished ; but the election has been 
constitutionally held. Were we to make a point of resist- 
ance to the Government, and go out of the Union on this 
account, the record would be made up hereafter against 
us." 

After the new confederacy had been organized, and Mr. 
Stephens had been elected its Vice-President, he made an 
elaborate speech to the citizens of Savannah, in which he 
endeavored to vindicate this attempt to establish a new 
government in place of the government of the United 
States, and to set forth the new principles upon which it 
was to rest, and which were to justify the movement in 
the eyes of the world and of impartial posterity. That 
exposition is too important to be omitted here. It is the 
most authoritative and explicit statement of the character 
and objects of the new government which has ever been 
made. Mr. Stephens said : — 

" The new constitution has put at rest forever all agitating questions 
relating to our peculiar institutions — African slavery, as it exists among 
us — the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was 
the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefier- 
eon, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as tne 'rock upon which the old 
Union would split.' He was right. What was conjecture with him, is 
now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great 
truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The 
prevailing ideas entertained by him, and most of the leading statesmen at 
the time of the formation of the old Constitution, were, that the enslave- 
ment of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was 
wrong in principle, socially, morally, and politically. It was an evil they 
knew not well how to deal with ; but the general opinion of the men of 
that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the 
institution would be evanescent and pass away. This idea, though not 
incorporated in the Constitution, was the prevailing idea at the time. 
The Constitution, it is true, secured every essential guarantee to the insti • 
tution while it should last, and hence no argument can be justly used 
against the constitutional guarantees thus secured, because of the com- 
mon sentiment of the day. Those ideas, however, were fundamentally 
wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This 
was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a government 



116 The Life, Public Services, and 

> 

built upon it was wrong — when the 'storm came and the wind blew, it 
fell.' 

" Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas ; its 
foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that tlie 
negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the 
superior race, is his natural and normal condition. This, our new govern- 
ment, is the first in the history of the world, based upon this great physi- 
cal, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow iu the pro- 
cess of its development, like all other truths in the various departments 
of science. It is even so amongst us. Many who hear me, perhaps, can 
recollect well that this truth was not generally admitted even within their 
day. The errors of the past generation still clung to many as late as 
twenty years ago. Those at the North who still cling to these errors 
with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate fanatics. All fanat- 
icism springs from an aberration of the mind; from a defect in reasoning. 
It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of 
insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied 
or erroneous premises; so with the anti-slavery fanatics; their conclusions 
are right if their premises are. They assume that the negro is equal, and 
hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the 
white man. If their premises were correct, their conclusions would be 
logical and just ; but their premises being wrong, their whole argument 
fails. I recollect once of having heard a gentleman from one of the 
Northern States, of great power and ability, announce in the House of 
Representatives, with imposing effect, that we of the South would be com- 
pelled, ultimately, to yield upon this subject of slavery ; that it was as 
impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics, as it was in 
physics or mechanics ; that the principle would ultimately prevail ; that 
we, in maintaining slavery as it exists with us, were warring against a 
principle — a principle founded in nature, the principle of the equality of 
man. The reply I made to him was, that upon his own grounds we 
should succeed, and that he and h^s associates in their crusade against 
our institutions would ultimately fail. The truth announced, that it was 
as impossible to war successfully against a principle in politics as it was 
in physics or mechanics, I admitted, but told him that it was he and 
those acting with him who were warring against a principle. They 
were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made 
unequal. 

"In the conflict thus far, success has been on our side, complete 
throughout the length and breadth of the Confederate States. It is upon 
this, as I have stated, our social fabric is firmly planted ; and I cannot 
permit myself to doubt the ultimate success of a full recognition of this 
principle throughout the civilized and enlightened world." 

We have thus traced the course of events in the South- 
ern States during the three months that succeeded the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 117 

election of President Lincoln. Let us now see what took 
place in Washington during the same time. Congress met 
on the 3d of December, and the Message of President 
Buchanan was at once sent in. That document ascribed 
the discontent of the Southern States to the alleged fact 
that the violent agitation in the North against slavery had 
created disaffection among the slaves, and created appre- 
hensions of servile insurrection. The President vindicated 
the hostile action of the South, assuming that it was 
prompted by these apprehensions ; but went on to show 
that there was no right on the part of any State to secede 
from the Union, while at the same time he contended that 
the General Government had no right to make war on any 
State for the purpose of preventing it from seceding, and 
closed this portion of his Message by recommending an 
amendment of the Constitution which should explicitly 
recognize the right of property in slaves, and provide for 
the protection of that right in all the Territories of the 
United States. The belief that the people of South Caro- 
lina would make an attempt to seize one or more of the 
forts in the harbor of Charleston, created considerable 
uneasiness at Washington ; and on the 9th of December 
the representatives from that State wrote to the President 
expressing their "strong convictions" that no such at- 
tempt would be made previous to the action of the State 
Convention, '■'■provided that no re-enforcements should 
be sent into those forts, and their relative military status 
shall remain as at present." On the 10th of December 
Howell Cobb resigned his office as Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, and on the 14th General Cass resigned as Secretary 
of State. The latter resigned because the President 
refused to re-enforce the forts in the harbor of Charleston. 
On the 20th the State of South Carolina passed the ordi- 
nance of secession, and on the 26th Major Anderson trans- 
ferred his garrison from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. 
On the 29th John B. Floyd resigned his office as Secretary 
of War, alleging that the action of Major Anderson was 
in violation of pledges given by the Government that the 
military status of the forts at Charleston should remain 



118 The Life, Public Services, and 

unchanged, and that the President had declined to allow 
him to issue an order, for -which he had applied on the 
27th, to withdraw the garrison from the harbor of Charles- 
ton. On the 29th of December, Messrs. Barnwell, Adams, 
and On* arrived at Washington, as commissioners from 
the State of South Carolina, and at once opened a corre- 
spondence with President Buchanan, asking for the deliv- 
ery of the forts and other government property at Charles- 
ton to the authorities of South Carolina. The President 
replied on the 30th, reviewing the whole question — stating 
that in removing from Fort Moultrie, Major Anderson 
acted solely on his own responsibility, and that his first 
impulse on hearing of it was to order him to return, but 
that the occupation of the fort by South Carolina and the 
seizure of the arsenal at Charleston had rendered this 
impossible. The commissioners replied on the 1st of 
January, 1861, insisting that the President had pledged 
himself to maintain the status of affairs in Charleston 
harbor previous to the removal of Major Anderson from 
Fort Moultrie, and calling on him to redeem this pledge. 
This communication the President returned. 

On the 8th of January, the President sent a message to 
Congress, calling their attention to the condition of public 
affairs, declaring that while he had no right to make ag- 
gressive war upon any State, it was his right and his 
duty to "use military force defensively against those who 
resist the Federal officers in the execution of their legal 
functions, and against those who assail the property of 
the Federal Government ;" — but throwing the whole re- 
sponsibility of meeting the extraordinary emergencies of 
the occasion upon Congress. On the same day, Jacob 
Thompson, of Mississippi, resigned his office as Secretary 
of the Interior, because the Star of the West had been 
sent on the 5th, by order of the Government, with sup- 
plies for Fort Sumter, in violation, as he alleged, of the 
decision of the cabinet. On the 10th, P. F. Thomas, of 
Maryland, who had replaced Howell Cobb as Secretary 
of the Treasury, resigned, and was succeeded by General 
John A Dix, of New York. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincol^ 119 

The debates and the action of Congress throughout the 
session related mainly to the questions at issue between 
the two sections. The discussion opened on the 3d of 
December, as soon as the President's Message had been 
read. The Southern Senators generally treated the elec- 
tion of the previous November as having been a virtual 
decision against the equality and rights of the slavehold 
ing States. The Republican members disavowed this con- 
struction, and proclaimed their willingness to adopt any 
just and proper measures which would quiet the appre- 
hensions of the South, while they insisted that the 
authority of the Constitution should be maintained, and 
the constitutional election of a President should be re- 
spected. At the opening of the session, Mr. Powell, of 
Kentucky, in the Senate, moved the reference of that 
portion of the President's Message which related to the 
sectional difficulties of the country, to a select committee 
of thirteen. This resolution being adopted, Mr. Critten 
den immediately afterwards introduced a series of joint 
resolutions, embodying what came to be known after- 
wards as the Crittenden Compromise — proposing to sub- 
mit to the action of the people of the several States the 
following amendments to the Constitution : — 

1. Prohibiting slavery in all the territory of the United States north of 
86° 30', and protecting it as property in all territory south of that line;- 
and admitting into the Union, with or without slavery, as its Constitution 
might provide, any State that might be formed out of such territory, 
whenever its population should be sufficient to entitle it to a member of 
Congress. 

2. Prohibiting Congress from abolishing slavery in places under its 
exclusive jurisdiction within Slave States. 

3. Prohibiting Congress from abolishing slavery within the District of 
Columbia, so long as slavery should exist in Virginia or Maryland; or 
without the consent of the inhabitants, or without just compensation to 
the owners. 

4. Prohibiting Congress from hindering the transportation of slaves 
from one State to another, or to a Territory in which slavery is allowed. 

5. Providing that where a fugitive slave is lost to his owner by violent 
resistance to the execution of the process of the law for his recovery, the 
United States shall pay to said owner his full value, and may recover tho 
Bame from the couutv in which such rescue occurred. 



120 t The Life, Public Services, and 

6. These provisions were declared to be unchangeable by any future 
amendment of the Constitution, as were also the existing articles relating 
to the representation of slaves and the surrender of fugitives. 

Besides these proposed amendments of the Constitution, 
Mr. Crittenden's resolutions embodied certain declara- 
tions in affirmance of the constitutionality and "binding 
force of the fugitive slave law — recommending the repeal 
by the States of all bills, the effect of which was to 
hinder the execution of that law, proposing to amend it 
by equalizing its fees, and urging the effectual execution 
of the law for the suppression of the African slave-trade. 

These resolutions were referred to the Committee of 
Thirteen, ordered on Mr. Powell's motion, and composed 
of the following senators : — 

Messrs. Powell, Hunter, Crittenden, Seward, Toombs, Douglas, Colla- 
mer, Davis, Wade, Bigler, Rice, Doolittle, and Grimes. 

On the 31st of December, this committee reported that 
they ' ' had not been able to agree upon any general plan 
of adjustment." The "whole subject was nevertheless 
discussed over and over again during the residue cf the 
session ; but no final action was taken until the very day 
of its close. On the 21st of January, Messrs. Yulee and 
Mallory, of Florida, resigned their seats in the Senate, 
because their State had passed an ordinance of secession ; 
and on the 28th, Mr. Iverson, of Georgia, followed their 
example. Messrs. Clay and Fitzpatrick, of Alabama, 
and Mr. Davis, of Mississippi, followed next, and, on the 
4th of February, Messrs. Slidell and Benjamin, of Louis- 
iana, also took their leave. 

In the House of Representatives the debates took the 
same general direction as in the Senate. On the first day 
of the session a resolution was adopted, by a vote of one 
hundred and forty-five to thirty-eight, to refer so much 
of the President 1 s Message as related to the perilous con- 
dition of the country, to a committee of one from each 
State. This committee was appointed as follows : — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 121 

Corwin of Ohio. Dunn of Indiana. 

Millson of Virginia. Taylor of Louisiana. 

Adams of Massachusetts. Davis of Mississippi. 

Winslow of North Carolina. Kellogg of Illinois. 

Humphrey of New York. Houston of Alabama. 

' Boyce of South Carolina. Morse of Maine. 

Campbell of Pennsylvania. Phelps of Missouri. 

Love of Georgia. Rust of Arkansas. 

Ferry of Connecticut. Howard of Michigan. 

Davis of Maryland. Hawkins of Florida. 

Robinson of Rhode Island. Hamilton of Texas. 

Whitely of Delaware. "Washburn of Wisconsin. 

Tappau of New Hampshire. Curtis of Iowa. 

Stratton of New Jersey. Birch of California. 

Bristow of Kentucky. Windom of Minnesota. 

Morrill of Vermont. Stark of Oregon. 
Nelson of Tennessee. 

A great variety of resolutions were offered and referred 
to this committee. In a few days the committee reported 
the following series of resolutions, and recommended 
their adoption : — 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of t7ie United States 
of America in Congress assembled, That all attempts on the parts of the 
legislatures of any of the States to obstruct or hinder the recovery and 
surrender of fugitives from service or labor, are in derogation of the Con- 
stitution of the United States, inconsistent with the comity and good 
neighborhood that should prevail among the several States, and danger- 
ous to the peace of the Union. 

Resolved, That the several States be respectfully requested to cause 
their statutes to be revised, with a view to ascertain if any of them are 
in conflict with, or tend to embarrass or hinder the execution of, the laws 
of the United States, made in pursuance of the second section of the fourth 
article of the Constitution of the United States, for the delivering up of 
persons held to labor by the laws of any State and escaping therefrom; 
and the Senate and House of Representatives earnestly request that all 
enactments having such tendency be forthwith repealed, as required by a 
just sense of constitutional obligations, and by a due regard for the peace 
of the Republic ; and the President of the United States is requested to 
communicate these resolutions to the governors of the several States, 
with a request that they will lay the same before the legislatures thereof, 
respectively. 

Resolved, That we recognize slavery as now exis/ing in fifteen of the 
United States by the usages and laws of those States; and we recognize 
no authority, legally or otherwise, outside of a State where it so exists, to 



122 The Life, Public Services, and 

interfere with slaves or slavery in such States, in disregard of the rights 
of their owners or the peace of society. 

Resolved, That we recognize the justice and propriety of a faithful 
execution of the Constitution, and laws made in pursuance thereof, on tho 
Buhject of fugitive slaves, or fugitives from service or lahor, and discoun- 
tenance all mobs or hindrances to the execution of such laws, and that 
citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities 
of citizens in the several States. 

, Resolved, That we recognize no such conflicting elements in its compo- 
sition, or sufficient cause from any source, for a dissolution of this Gov- 
ernment; that we were not sent here to destroy, but to sustain and 
harmonize the institutions of the country, and to see that equal justice is 
done to all parts of the same ; and, finally, to perpetuate its existence on 
terms of equality and justice to all the States. 

Resolved, That a faithful observance, on the part of all the States, of 
nil their constitutional obligations to each other and to the Federal Gov- 
ernment, is essential to the peace of the country. 

Resolved, That it is the duty of the Federal Government to enforce the 
Federal laws, protect the Federal property, and preserve the Union of 
these States. 

Resolved, That each State be requested to revise its statutes, and, if 
necessary, so to amend the same as to secure, without legislation by Cod- 
gress, to citizens of other States travelling therein, the same protection as 
citizens of such States enjoy; and also to protect the citizens of other 
States travelling or sojourning therein against popular violence or illegal 
summary punishment, without trial in due form of law for imputed 
crimes. 

Resolved, That each State be also respectfully requested to enact such 
laws as will prevent and punish any attempt whatever in such State to 
recognize or set on foot the lawless invasion of any other State o'* Terri- 
tory. 

Resolved, That the President be requested to transmit copies of the 
foregoing resolutions to the Governors of the several States, with a request 
that they be communicated to their respective legislatures. 

These resolutions were intended and admirably cal- 
culated to calm the apprehensions of the people of the 
slaveholding States as to any disposition on the part of 
the Federal Government to interfere with slavery, or 
withhold from them any of their constitutional rights ; 
and in a House controlled by a large Republican majority, 
they were adopted by a vote of ayes one hundred and 
thirty-six, noes fifty-three. Not content with this effort 
to satisfy all just complaints on the part of the Southern 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 123 

States, the same committee reported the following resolu- 
tion, recommending such an amendment of the Constitu- 
tion as should put it forever out of the power of the 
government or people of the United States to interfere 
with slavery in any of the States : — 

Be it resolved by the Senate and JJouse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses con- 
curring), That the following article be proposed to the legislatures of 
the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall 
be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, 
namely : 

Art. 12. No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will 
authorize, or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within 
any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of per- 
sons held to labor or service by the laws of said State. 

This resolution was adopted by a vote of one hundred 
and thirty-three to sixty-five — more than two-tldrds in 
its favor. This closed the action of the House of Repre- 
sentatives at this session on this important subject, 
though it had previously adopted, by a unanimous vote, 
the following declaratory resolution : — 

Resolved, That neither the Federal Government nor the people, or the 
governments of the non-slaveholding States, have the right to legislate 
npon or interfere with slavery in any of the slaveholding States in the 
Union. 

The action of the Senate was somewhat modified by 
the intervening action of a Peace Conference, which 
assembled at Washington on the 4th of February, in 
pursuance of a recommendation of the State of Virginia, 
embodied in resolutions adopted by the General As- 
sembly of that State on the 19th of January. It con- 
sisted of delegates, one hundred and thirty-three in 
number, from twenty-one States — none of those which 
had seceded being represented. John Tyler, of Virginia, 
was appointed president, and a committee, consisting of 
one from each State, was appointed, with authority to 
"report what they may deem right, necessary, and 
proper, to restore harmony and preserve the Union." 



124 The Life, Public Services, and 

On the loth of February the committee reported a series 
of resolutions, in seven sections, which were discussed 
and amended, one by one, until the afternoon of the 26th, 
when the vote was taken upon them as amended, in 
succession, with the following results : — 

Section 1. In all the present territory of the United States, north of 
the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minntes of north latitude, in- 
voluntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, is prohibited. In all 
the present territory south of that line, the status of persons held to invol- 
untary service or labor, as it now exists, shall not be changed ; nor shall 
any law be passed by Congress or the territorial legislature to hinder or 
prevent the taking of such persons from any of the States of this Union to 
said territory, nor to impair the rights arising from said relation; but the 
same shall he subject to judicial cognizance in the Federal Courts, accord- 
ing to the course of the common law. When any territory north or south 
of said line, within such boundary as Congress may prescribe, shall con- 
tain a population equal to that required for a member of Congress, it 
shall, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union 
on an equal footing with the original States, with or without involuntary 
servitude, as the constitution of such State may provide. 

The vote on the adoption of the section was as follows : — 

Ayes.— Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylva- 
nia. Rhode Island, Tennessee— 8. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New 
Tork, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 11. 

So its adoption was not agreed to. 

A reconsideration of this vote was called for by the delegates from 
Illinois, and agreed to, 14 to 5. On the next day the question was again 
taken on the adoption of the section, with the following result: — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio. 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee — 9. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 8. 

Thus the section was adopted. 

It was stated by the members from New York, when the State was 
called, that one of their number, D. D. Field, was absent, and the del- 
egation was divided. Thus New York, Indiana, and Kansas were 
divided. 

The adoption of the second section was then moved ; it was as fol- 
lows: — 

Section 2. No territory shall be acquired by the United States, except 
by discovery, and for naval and commercial stations, depots, and transit 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 125 

routes, without a concurrence of the majority of all the Senators from 
States which allow involuntary servitude, and a majority of all the Sena- 
tors from States which prohibit that relation ; nor shall territory be ac- 
quired by treaty, unless the votes of a majority of the Senators from each 
class of States hereinbefore mentioned be cast as a part of the two-thirds 
majority necessary to the ratification of such treaty. 

The vote, on this section was as follows: — 

Ayes.— Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia — 11. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Car- 
olina, New Hampshire, Vermont — 8. 

New York and Kansas were divided. 

The adoption of section three of the report, with the amendments, was 
next moved. The amended section was as follows: — 

Section 3. Neither the Constitution nor any amendment thereof shall 
be construed to give Congress power to regulate, abolish, or control, 
within any State, the relation established or recognized by the laws 
thereof touching persons held to labi>r or involuntary service therein, nor 
to interfere with or abolish involuntary service in the District of Colum- 
bia without the consent of Maryland and without the consent of the 
-owners, or making the owners who do not consent just compensation; 
nor the power to interfere with or prohibit representatives and others 
from bringing with them to the District of Columbia, retaining, and 
taking away, persons so held to labor or service; nor the power to in- 
terfere with or abolish involuntary service in places under the exclusive 
jurisdiction of the United States, within those States and Territories 
where the same is established or recognized ; nor the power to prohibit 
the removal or transportation of persons held to labor or involuntary 
service in any State or Territory of the United States to any other State or 
Territory thereof, where it is established or recognized by law or usage ; 
and the right during transportation, by sea or river, of touching at ports, 
shores, and landings, and of landing in case distress shall exist ; but 
not the right of transit in or through any State or Territory, or of sale or 
traffic, against the law thereof. Nor shall Congress have power to 
authorize any higher rate of taxation on persons held to labor or service 
than on land. 

The vote on the adoption of the section was as follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, 
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vir- 
ginia — 12. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New llamp- 
shire, Vermont — 7. 

So the section was adopted." Kansas and New York were divided. 



124 The Life, Public Services, and 

On the 15tli of February the committee reported a series 
of resolutions, in seven sections, which were discussed 
and amended, one by one, until the afternoon of the 26th, 
when the vote was taken upon them as amended, in 
succession, with the following results : — 

Section 1. In all the present t-orritory of the United States, north of 
the parallel of thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes of north latitude, in- 
voluntary servitude, except in punishment of crime, is prohibited. In all 
the present territory south of that line, the status of persons held to invol- 
untary service or labor, as it now exists, shall not be changed ; nor shall 
any law be passed by Congress or the territorial legislature to hinder or 
prevent the taking of such persons from any of the States of this Union to 
said territory, nor to impair the rights arising from said relation; but the 
same shall be subject to judicial cognizance in the Federal Courts, accord- 
ing to the course of the common law. When any territory north or south 
of said line, within such boundary as Congress may prescribe, shall con- 
tain a population equal to that required for a member of Congress, it 
shall, if its form of government be republican, be admitted into the Union 
on an equal footing with the original States, with or without involuntary 
servitude, as the constitution of such State may provide. 

The vote on the adoption of the section was as follows : — 

Ayes.— Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylva- 
nia, Rhode Island, Tennessee — 8. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New 
York, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia— 11. 

So its adoption was not agreed to. 

A reconsideration of this vote was called for by the delegates from 
Illinois, and agreed to, 14 to 5. On the next day the question was again 
taken on the adoption of the section, with the following result: — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, 
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee— 9. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New 
Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 8. 

Thus the section was adopted. 

It was stated by the members from New York, when the State was 
called, that one of their number, D. D. Field, was absent, and the del- 
egation was divided. Thus New York, Indiana, and Kansas were 
divided. 

The adoption of the second section was then moved ; it was as fol- 
lows: — 

Section 2. No territory shall be acquired by the United States, except 
by discovery, and for naval and commercial stations, depots, and transit 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 125 

routes, without a concurrence of the majority of all the Senators from 
States which allow involuntary servitude, and a majority of all the Sena- 
tors from States which prohibit that relation ; nor shall territory be ac- 
quired by treaty, unless the votes of a majority of the Senators from each 
class of States hereinbefore mentioned be cast as a part of the two-thirds 
majority necessary to the ratification of such treaty. 

The vote, on this section was as follows: — 

Ayes.— Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Khode Island, Tennessee, Virginia — 11. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Car- 
olina, New Hampshire, Vermont — 8. 

New York and Kansas were divided. 

The adoption of section three of the report, with the amendments, was 
next moved. The amended section was as follows: — 

Section 3. Neither the Constitution nor any amendment thereof shall 
be construed to give Congress power to regulate, abolish, or control, 
within any State, the relation established or recognized by the laws 
thereof touching persons held to labor or involuntary service therein, nor 
to interfere with or abolish involuntary service in the District of Colum- 
bia without the consent of Maryland and without the consent of the 
-owners, or making the owners who do not consent just compensation; 
nor the power to interfere with or prohibit representatives and others 
from bringing with them to the District of Columbia, retaining, and 
taking away, persons so held to labor or service ; nor the power to in- 
terfere with or abolish involuntary service in places under the exclusive 
jurisdiction of the United States, within those States and Territories 
where the same is established or recognized ; nor the power to prohibit 
the removal or transportation of persons held to labor or involuntary 
service in any State or Territory of the United States to any other State or 
Territory thereof, where it is established or recognized by law or usage ; 
and the right during transportation, by sea or river, of touching at ports, 
shores, and landings, and of landing in case distress shall exist; but 
not the right of transit in or through any State or Territory, or of sale or 
traffic, against the law thereof. Nor shall Congress have power to 
authorize any higher rate of taxation on persons held to labor or service 
than on land. 

The vote on the adoption of the section was as follows: — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, 
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ehode Island, Tennessee, Vir- 
ginia — 12. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Indiana, Iow r a, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hamp- 
shire, Vermont — 7. 

So the section was adopted. - Kansas and New York were divided. 



126 The Life, Public Services, and 

The adoption of the fourth section of the report, as amended, was then 
moved; it was as follows : — 

Section 4. The third paragraph of the second section of the fourth 
article of the Constitution shall not he construed to prevent any of the 
States, by appropriate legislation, and through the action of their judicial 
and ministerial officers, from enforcing the delivery of fugitives from labor 

to the person to whom such service or labor is due. 

« 
The vote on the adoption of this section was as follows: — 

Ayes. — Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, 
Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Khode Island, 
Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia — 15. 

Noes. — Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire — 4. 

Thus the section was adopted. Kansas and New York were divided. 

The adoption of the fifth section of the report, as amended, was then 
moved ; it was as follows : — 

Section 5. The foreign slave-trade is hereby forever prohibited, and it 
shall be the duty of Congress to pass laws to prevent the importation of 
slaves, coolies, or persons held to service or labor, into the United States 
and the Territories from places beyona the limits thereof. 

The vote on the adoption of this section resulted as follows : — 

Ayes. — Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, 
Missouri, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Kansas — 16. 

Noes. — Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Virginia — 5. 

The section was thus adopted. 

A motion was next made to adopt the sixth section, as amended ; it 
was as follows : — 

Section 6. The first, third, and fifth sections, together with this section 
of these amendments, and the third paragraph of the second section of the 
first article of the Constitution, and the third paragraph of the second sec- 
tion of the fourth article thereof, shall not be amended or abolished with- 
out the consent of all the States. 

The vote on this section was as follows : — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, 
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Kansas — 11. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, North Caro- 
lina, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia — 9. 

New York was divided. So this section was adopted. 

The motion was then made to adopt the seventh and last section, as 
amended: it was as follows : — 

Section 7. Congress shall provide by law that the United States shall 
pay to the owner the full value of his fugitive from labor, in all casea 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 127 

where the marshal, or other officer whose duty it was to arrest such fugi- 
tive, was prevented from doing so hy violence or intimidation, from ruohs 
or other riotous assemblages, or when, after arrest, such fugitive was res- 
cued by like violence or intimidation, and the owner thereby deprived of 
the same; and the acceptance of such payment shall preclude the owner 
from further claim to such fugitive. Congress shall provide by law for 
securing to the citizens of each State the privileges and immunities of cit- 
izens in the several States. 

The vote on this section was as follows :— 

Ayes. — Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, 
New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Kan- 
sas— 12. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Vermont, 
Virginia — 7. 

Thus the last section was adopted. New York was divided. 

The adoption of the following resolution was then moved by Mr. Frank- 
fin, of Pennsylvania : — 

Resolved, As the sense of this Convention, that the highest political 
duty of every citizen of the United States is his allegiance to the Federal 
Government created by the Constitution of the United States, and that 
no State of this Union has any constitutional right to secede therefrom, 
or to absolve the citizens of such State from their allegiance to the Gov- 
ernment of the United States. 

It was moved to lay the resolution on the table. The vote was as 
follows: — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North 
Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia — 9. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, 
New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, 
Kansas — 12. 

Some amendments were then offered and laid on the table, when its 
indefinite postponement was moved and carried by the following vote: — 

Ayes. — Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North 
Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia — 10. 

Noes. — Connecticut, Illinois, Indiaaa, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania— 7. 

New York was divided. 

The following preamble was then offered by M". Guthrie, and agreed 
to:— 

To the Congress of the United States : 

The Convention assembled upon the invitation of the State of Virgmia f 
to adjust the unhappy differences which now disturb the peace of the 
Union and threaten its continuance, make known to the Congress of tho 



128 The Life, Public Services, and 

United State9 that their body convened in the City of Washington on the 
4th instant, and continued in session until the 27th. 

There were in the hody, when action was taken upon that which is 
here submitted, one hundred and thirty-three commissioners, represent- 
ing the following States: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, 
Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas. 

They have approved what is herewith submitted, and respectfully re- 
quest that your honorable body will submit it to conventions in the 
States as an article of amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States. 

In the Senate, on the 2d day of March, a communica- 
tion was received from the President of the Peace Con- 
gress, communicating the resolutions thus adopted in that 
body. They were at once referred to a committee consist- 
ing of Messrs. Crittenden, Bigler, Thomson, Seward, and 
Trumbull. The next day they were reported to the Sen- 
ate for its adoption, Messrs. Seward and Trumbull, the 
minority of the Committee, dissenting from the majority, 
and proposing the adoption of a resolution calling on the 
legislatures of the States to express their will in regard 
to calling a Convention for amending the Constitution. 

The question then came up on adopting the resolutions 
of the Peace Conference. Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, moved 
to substitute the first of Mr. Crittenden' s resolutions for 
the first of those reported by the committee. Mr. Crit- 
tenden opposed it, and urged the adoption of the proposi- 
tions of the Peace Conference in preference to his own. 
Mr. Mason, of Virginia, opposed the resolutions of the 
Peace Conference, on the ground that it would not satisfy 
the South. Mr. Baker, of Oregon, advocated it. Mr. 
Green, of Missouri, opposed it, as surrendering every 
Southern principle, in which he was seconded by Mr. 
Lane, of Oregon. 

At this stage of the proceedings, Mr. Douglas gave a 
new turn to the form of the proceedings of the Senate, by 
moving to take up the resolution adopted by the House 
to amend the Constitution so as to prohibit forever any 
interference with slavery in the States. This motion was 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 129 

carried. Mr. Pugh moved to amend by substituting for 
this resolution the resolutions of Mr. Crittenden. This 
was rejected— ayes 14, noes 25. Mr. Brigham, of Michi- 
gan, next moved to substitute a resolution against any 
amendment of the Constitution, and in favor of enforcing 
the laws. This was rejected— ayes 13, noes 25. Mr. 
Grimes, of Iowa, then moved to substitute the resolution 
of Messrs. Seward and Trumbull, as the minority of the 
Select Committee, calling on the State Legislatures to ex- 
press their will in regard to calling a Convention to amend 
the Constitution. This was rejected — ayes 14, noes 25. 
The propositions of the Peace Conference were then 
moved by Mr. Johnson, of Arkansas, and rejected — ayes 
3, noes 34. Mr. Crittenden's resolutions were then taken 
up, and lost by the following vote : — 

Ayes. — Messrs. Bayard, Bright, Bigler, Crittenden, Douglas, Gwin, 
Ilunter, Johnson of Tennessee, Kennedy, Lane, Latham, Mason, Nichol- 
son, Polk, Pugh, Rice, Sehastian, Thomson, and Wigfall — 19. 

Noes. — Messrs. Anthony, Bingham, Chandler, Clark, Dixon, Doolittle, 
Durkee, Fessenden, Foote, Foster, Grimes, Ilarlan, King, Morrill, Sum- 
ner, Ten Eyck, Trumhull, Wade, Wilkinson, and Wilson — 20. 

The resolutions were thus lost, in consequence of the 
withdrawal of Senators from the disaffected States. The 
question was then taken on the House resolution to amend 
the Constitution so as to prohibit forever any amendment 
of the Constitution interfering with slavery in any State, 
and the resolution was adopted by a two-thirds vote — 
aj-es 24, nays 12. 

This closed the action of Congress upon this important 
6ubject. It was strongly Republican in both branches, 
yet it had done every thing consistent with its sense of 
justice and fidelity to the Constitution to disarm the ap- 
prehensions of the Southern States, and to remove all 
provocation for their resistance to the incoming Adminis- 
tration. It had given the strongest possible pledge that 
it had no intention of interfering with slavery in any 
State, by amending the Constitution so as to make such 
interference forever impossible. It created governments 
for three new Territories, Nevada, Dakotah, and Colora- 

9 



130 The Life, Public Services, and 

do, and passed no law excluding slavery from any one of 
them. It had severely censured the legislation of some 
of the Northern States intended to hinder the recovery of 
fugitives from labor ; and in response to its expressed 
wishes, Rhode Island repealed its laws of that character, 
and Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin had 
the subject under consideration, and were ready to take 
similar action. Yet all this had no effect whatever in 
changing or checking the secession movement in the 
Southern States. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 131 



CHAPTER V. 

FROM SPRINGFIELD TO WASHINGTON. 

SrEEon at Indianapolis. — Arrival and Speech at Cincinnati. — Speecii 
at Columbus. — Speech at Pittsburg. — Arrival and Speech at Cleve- 
land. — Arpival at Buffalo. — At Rochester and Syracuse. — At 
Albany. — Speech at Poughkeepsie. — In New York. — Reply to thb 
Mayor of New York. — In New Jersey. — Arrival at Philadelphia. — 
Speech in Philadelphia. — At IIarrisbdrg. — Arrival and Receptiox 
at Washington. 

From the date of his election, Mr. Lincoln maintained 
silence on the affairs of the country. The Government 
was to remain for three months longer in the hands of Mr. 
Buchanan, and the new President did not deem it becom- 
ing or proper for him to interfere, in any way, with the 
regular discharge of its duties and responsibilities. On 
the 11th of February, 1861, he left his home in Spring- 
field, Illinois, accompanied to the railroad depot by a 
large concourse of his friends and neighbors, whom he 
bade farewell in the following words : — 

My Friends : — No one not in my position can appreciate the sadness I 
feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived 
more thau a quarter of a century ; here my children were horn, and here 
one of them lies huried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty 
devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved 
upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would 
have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he 
at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same Divine 
aid which sustained him, and on the same Almighty Being I place my re- 
liance for support ; and I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may 
receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, hut with 
which success is certain. Again I bid you all an affectionate farewell. 

As the train passed through the country, the President 
was greeted with hearty cheers and good wishes by the 
thousands who assembled at the railway stations along 



132 The Life, Public Services, and 

the route. Party spirit seemed to have been forgotten, 
and the cheers were always given for "Lincoln and the 
Constitution." At Tolono he appeared upon the platform, 
and in response to the applause which hailed his appear- 
ance, he said : — 

I am leaving you on an errand of national importance, attended, as yon 
are aware, with considerable difficulties. Let us believe, as some poet has 
expressed it, "Behind the cloud the- sun is still shining." I bid you an 
affectionate farewell. 

At Indianapolis the party was welcomed "by a salute of 
thirty-four guns, and the President-elect was received by 
the Governor of the State in person, and escorted to a 
carriage in waiting, which proceeded — followed by a pro- 
cession of the members of both houses of the legislature, 
the municipal authorities, the military, and firemen — to 
the Sates House. Appearing on the balcony of this hotel, 
Mr. Lincoln was greeted by the hearty applause of the 
large crowd which had assembled in the street, to which 
he addressed the following remarks : — 

Governor Morton and Fellow-Citizens of the State of Indiana : — 

Most heartily do 1 thank you for this magnificent reception, and while 
I cannot take to myself any share tpf the compliment thus paid, more 
than that which pertains to a mere instrument, an accidental instrument, 
perhaps I should say, of a great cause, I yet must look upon it as a most 
magnificent reception, and as such most heartily do thank you for it. 
You have been pleased to address yourself to me chiefly in behalf of this 
glorious Union in which we live, in all of which you have my hearty 
sympathy, and, as far as may be within my power, will have, one and 
inseparably, my hearty consideration. While I do not expect, upon this 
occasion, or until I get to Washington, to attempt any lengthy speech, I 
will only say to the salvation of the Union there needs but one single 
thing — the hearts of a people like yours. [Applause.] 

The people, when they rise in mass in behalf of the Union and the 
liberties of their country, truly may it be said, "The gates of hell cannot 
prevail against them." [Renewed applause.] In all trying positions in 
which I shall be placed — and, doubtless, I shall be placed in many such — 
my reliance will be placed upon you and the people of the United States; 
and I wish you to remember, now and forever, that it is your business, 
and not mine; that if the union of these States, and the liberties of this 
people shall be lost, it is but little to any one man of fifty-two years of 
age, but a great deal to the thirty millions of people who inhabit these 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 133 

United States, and to their posterity in all coming time. It is your busi- 
ness to rise up and preserve the Union and liberty for yourselves, and not 
for me. 

I desire they should be constitutionally performed. I, as already inti- 
mated, am but an accidental instrument, temporary, and to serve but for 
a limited time; and I appeal to you again to constantly bear in mind that 
with you, and not with politicians, not with Presidents, not with oifice- 
seekers, but with you is the question, Shall the Union and shall the liber- 
ties of this country be preserved to the latest generations ? [Cheers.] 

In the evening the members of the legislature waited 
upon him in a "body at his hotel, where one of their num- 
ber,, on "behalf of the whole, and in presence of a very 
large assemblage of the citizens of the place, made a brief 
address of welcome and congratulation, which Mr. Lincoln 
acknowledged in the following terms : — 

Fellow-Citizens of TnE State of Indiana : — I am here to thank you 
much for this magnificent welcome, and still more for the generous sup- 
port gi^en by your State to that political cause which I think is the true 
and just cause of the whole country and the whole world. 

Solomon says there is "a time to keep silence," and when men wranglo 
by the mouth with no certainty that they mean the same thing, while 
using the same icord, it perhaps were as well if they would keep silence. 

The words "coercion" and "invasion" are much used in these days, 
and often with some temper and hot blood. Let us make sure, if we can, 
that we do not misunderstand the meaning of those who use them. Let 
us get exact definitions of these words, not from dictionaries, but from 
the men themselves, who certainly depreciate the things they would 
represent by the use of words. What, then, is "Coercion?" What is 
" Invasion ?" Would the inarching of an army into South Carolina, with- 
out the consent of her people, and with hostile intent towards them, be 
"invasion?" I certainly think it would; and it would be "coercion" 
also if the South Carolinians were forced to submit. But if the United 
States should merely hold and retake its own forts and other property, 
and collect the duties on foreign importations, or even withhold the mails 
from places where they were habitually violated, would any or all these 
things be " invasion " or " coercion ?" Do our professed lovers of the 
Union, but who spitefully resolve that they will resist coercion and inva- 
sion, understand that such things as these on the part of the United 
States would be coercion or invasion of a State? If so, their idea of 
means to preserve the object of their affection would seem exceedingly 
thin and airy. If sick, the little pills of the homceopathists would. bo 
much too large for it to swallow. In their view, the Union, as a family 



134 The Life, Public Services, and 

relation, would seem to be no regular marriage, but a sort of " free-love" 
arrangement, to be maintained only on " passional attraction." 

By-the-way, in what consists the special sacredness of a State ? I speak 
not of the position assigned to a State in the Union, by the Constitution; 
for that, by the bond, we all recognize. That position, however, a State 
cannot carry out of the Union wh)h it. I speak of that assumed primary 
right of a State to rule all which is less than itself, and ruin all which is 
larger than itself. If a State and a county, in a given case, should bo 
equal in extent of territory, and equal in number of inhabitants, in what, 
as a matter of principle, is the State better than the county? Would an 
exchange of names be an exchange of rights upon principle? On what 
rightful principle may a State, being not more than one-fiftieth part of 
the nation, in soil -and population, break up the nation and then coerce a 
proportionally larger subdivision of itself, in the most arbitrary way? 
"What mysterious right to play tvrant is conferred on a district of country, 
with its people, by merely calling it a State? 

Fellow-citizens, I am not asserting any thing ; I am merely asking ques- 
tions for you to consider. And now allow me to bid you farewell. 

On the morning of the 12th, Mr. Lincoln took his depart- 
ure and arrived at Cincinnati at about noon, having been 
greeted along the route by the hearty applause of the 
thousands assembled at the successive stations. His 
reception at Cincinnati was overwhelming. The streets 
were so densely crowded that it was with the utmost diffi- 
culty the procession could secure a passage. Mr. Lincoln 
was escorted to the Burnett House, which had been hand- 
somely decorated in honor of his visit. He was welcomed 
by the Mayor of the city in a few remarks, in response to 
which he said : — 

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizexs : — Ihave spoken but once before this 
in Cincinnati. That was a year previous to the late Presidential election. 
On that occasion, in a playful manner, but with sincere words, I addressed 
much of what I said to the Kentuekians. I gave my opinion that we, as 
Republicans, w r ould ultimately beat them, as Democrats, but that they 
could postpone that result longer by nominating Senator Douglas for the 
Presidency than they could in any other way. They did net, in ar.y true 
sense of the word, nominate Mr. Douglas, and the result has come certainly 
as soon as ever I expected. I also told them how I expected they would 
be treated after they should have been beaten ; and I now wish to call 
their attention to what 1 then said upon that subject. I then said, "When 
we do as we say, beat you, you perhaps want to know what we will do 
with you. I will tell you, as far as I am authorized to speak for the oppo- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 135 

6ition, what we mean to do with yon. "We mean to treat you, as near as 
we possibly can, as Washington, Jefferson, and Madison treated you. We 
mean to leave you alone, and in no way to interfere with your institu- 
tions ; to abide by all and every compromise of the Constitution ; and, iu 
a word, coming back to the original proposition, to treat you so far as 
degenerate men, if we have degenerated, may, according to the examplo 
of those noble fathers, Washington, Jefferson, and Madison. We mean 
to remember that you are as good as we ; that there is no difference be- 
tween us, other than the difference of circumstances. We mean to recog- 
nize and bear in mind always that you have as good hearts in your bosoma 
as other people, or as we claim to have, and treat you accordingly. 

Fellow-citizens of Kentucky ! friends! brethren, may I call you in my 
new position ? I see no occasion, and feel no inclination to retract a word 
of this. If it shall not be made good, be assured the fault shall not be 
mine. 

In the evening the German Republican associations called 
upon Mr. Lincoln and presented him an address of con- 
gratulation, to which he responded, warmly indorsing the 
wisdom of the Homestead bill, and speaking of the advan- 
tages offered by the soil and institutions of the United 
States to foreigners who might wish to make it their home. 
He left Cincinnati on the morning of the 13th, accompanied 
by a committee of the Ohio Legislature, which had come 
from the capital to meet him. The party reached Colum- 
bus at two o : clock, and the President was escorted to the 
hall of the Assembly, where he was formally welcomed 
by Lieutenant-Governor Kirk on behalf of the legislature, 
which had assembled in joint session, to which he made 
the following reply : — 

Mr. President and Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of tiie General 
Assembly : — It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate, 
that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to which the 
votes of the American people have called me. I am deeply sensible of 
that weighty responsibility. I cannot but know what you all know, that 
without a name, perhaps without a reason why I should have a name, 
there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest even upon the Father 
of his Country ; and so feeling, L cannot but turn and look for the support 
without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I 
tarn, then, and look to the great American people, and to that God who 
lias never forsaken them. 

Allusion has been made to the interest felt in relation to the policy of 
the new Administration. In this I have received from some a degree of 



136 The Life, Public Services, and 

credit for having kept silence, and from others some depreciation. I still 
think that I was right. In the varying and repeatedly shifting scenes of 
the present, and without a precedent which could enahle me to judge by 
the past, it has seemed fitting that before speaking upon the difficulties 
of the country, I should have gained a view of the whole field so as to be 
Bure after all — at liberty to modify and change the course of policy as 
future events may make a change necessary. I have not maintained 
silence from any want of real anxiety. It is a good thing that there is no 
more than anxiety, for there is nothing going wrong. It is a consoling 
circumstance that when we look out, there is nothing that really hurts any- 
body. We entertain different views upon political questions, but nobody 
is suffering any thing. This is a most consoling circumstance, and from 
it we may conclude that all we want is time, patience, and a reliance on 
that God who has never forsaken this people. Fellow-citizens, what I 
have said I have said altogether extemporaneously, and will now come to 
a close. 

Both houses then adjourned. In the evening Mr. Lin- 
coln held a levee, which was very largely attended. On 
the morning of the 14th, Mr. Lincoln left Columbus. At 
Steubenville he had a formal though brief reception, being 
addressed by Judge Floyd, to whose remarks he made 
the following reply : — 

I fear that the great confidence placed in my ability is unfounded. In- 
deed, I am sure it is. Encompassed by vast difficulties as I am, nothing 
shall be wanting on my part, if sustained by the American people and 
God. I believe the devotion to the Constitution is equally great on both 
sides of the river. It is only the different understanding of that instru- 
ment* that causes difficulty. The only dispute on both sides is, " What are 
their rights ?" If the majority should not rule, who should be the judge ? 
Where is such a judge to be found? We should all be bound by the 
majority of the American people— if not, then the minority must control. 
Would that be right? Would it be just or generous? Assuredly not. I 
reiterate, that the majority should rule. If I adopt a wrong policy, the 
opportunity for condemnation will occur in four years' time. Then I can 
be turned out, and a better man with better views put in my place. 

The train reached Pittsburg in the evening, and Mr. 
Lincoln was received with the utmost enthusiasm at the 
Monongahela House by a large crowd which had assembled 
to greet him. He acknowledged their reception briefly : — 

He said he would not give them a speech, as he thought it more rare, 
if not more wise, for a public man to abstain from much speaking. Ho 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 137 

expresse-l his gratitude and surprise at seeing so great a crowd and such 
boundless enthusiasm manifested in the night-time, and under such un- 
toward circumstances, to greet so unworthy an individual as himself. This 
was undoubtedly attributable to the position which more by accident 
than by worth he had attained. He remarked further, that if all those 
whole-souled people whom he saw this evening before him, were for the 
preservation of the Union, he did not see how it could be in much dan- 
ger. He had intended to say a few words to the people of Pittsburg — 
the greatest manufacturing city of the United States — upon such matters 
as they were interested in ; but as he had adopted the plan of holding his 
tongue for the most part during the last canvass, and since his election, 
ne thought he had perhaps better now still continue to hold his tongue. 
[Cries of " Go on," " go on. 1 '] Well, I am reminded that there is an Alle- 
ghany City as well as an Alleghany County, the former the banner town, 
and the latter the banner county, perhaps, of the world. I am glad to 
see both of them, and the good people of both. That I may not disap- 
point these, I will say a few words to you to-morrow as to the peculiar 
interests of Alleghany County. 

On the morning of the 15th, the Mayor and Common 
Council of the City of Pittsburg waited in a body upon 
the President-elect. The Mayor made him an address of 
formal welcome in presence of a very large number of 
citizens who had assembled to witness the ceremony. 
After the applause which greeted his appearance had 
subsided, Mr. Lincoln made the following remarks : — 

I most cordially thank Tlis TTonor Mayor Wilson, and the citizens of 
Pittsburg generally, for their flattering reception. I am the more grate- 
ful because I know that it is not given to me alone, but to the cause I 
represent, which clearly proves to me their good-will, and that sincere 
feeling is at the bottom of it. And here I may remark, that in every 
short address I have made to the people, in every crowd through which 
I have passed of late, some allusion has been made to the present dis- 
tracted condition of the country. It is natural to expect that I should 
say something on this subject; but to touch upon it at all would involve 
an elaborate discussion of ^ great many questions and circumstances, 
requiring more time than I can at present command, and would, perhaps, 
unnecessarily commit me upon matters which have not yet fully devel- 
oped themselves. The condition of the country is an extraordinary one, 
and fills the mind of every patriot with anxiety. It is' my intention to 
give this subject all the consideration I possibly can before specially 
deciding in regard to it, so that when I do speak it may be as nearly 
right as possible. When I do speak, I hope I may say nothing in opposi- 
tion to the spirit of the Constitution, contrary to the integrity of the 



138 The Life, Public Services, and 

Union, or which will prove inimical to the liberties of the people, or to 
the peace of the whole country. And, furthermore, when the time 
arrives for me to speak on this great subject, I hope I may say nothing 
to disappoint the people generally throughout the country, especially if 
the expectation has been based upon any thing which I may have hereto- 
fore said. Notwithstanding the troubles across the river — (the speaker 
pointing southwardly across the Monongahela, and smiling) — there is no 
crisis but an artificial one. What is there now to warrant the condition 
i of affairs presented by our friends over the river? Take even their own 
view of the questions involved, and there is nothing to justify the course 
they are pursuing. I repeat, then, there is no crisis, excepting such a 
one as may be gotten up at any time by turbulent men, aided by design- 
ing politicians. My advice to them, under such circumstances, is to keep 
cool. If the great American people only keep their temper on both sides 
of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which 
now distracts the country will be settled, just as surely as all other diffi- 
culties of a like character which have originated in this Government 
have been adjusted. Let the people on both sides keep their self-posses- 
sion, and just as other clouds have cleared away in due time, so will this 
great nation continue to prosper as heretofore. But, fellow-citizens, I 
have spoken longer on this subject than I intended at the outset. 

It is often said that the Tariff is the specialty of Pennsylvania. 
Assuming that direct taxation is not to be adopted, the Tariff" question 
must be as durable as the Government itself. It is a question of national 
housekeeping. It is to the Government what replenishing the meal-tub 
is to the family. Every varying circumstance will require frequent 
modifications as to the amount needed, and the sources of supply. So 
far there is little difference of opinion among the people. It is only 
whether, and how far, the duties on imports shall be adjusted to favor 
home productions. In the home market that controversy begins. One 
party insists that too much protection oppresses one class for the advan- 
tage of another, while the other party argues that with all its incidents, 
in the long run, all classes are benefited. In the Chicago Platform there 
is a plank upon this subject, which should be a general law to the incom- 
ing Administration. We should do neither more nor less than we gave 
the people reason to believe we would when they gave us their votes. 
That plank is as I now read. 

Mr. Lincoln's private secretary then read* section twelfth of the Chicago 
Platform, as follows: — 

That while providing revenue for the support of the General Govern- 
ment, by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment 
of these imports as will encourage the development of the industrial 
interest of the whole country; and we commend that policy of national 
exchanges which secures to working-men liberal wages, to agriculture 
remunerative prices, to mechanics and manufacturers adequate reward 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 139 

for the'r skill, labor, and enterprise, and to the nation commercial pros- 
perity and independence. 

Mr. Lincoln resumed: As •with all general propositions, doubtless there 
will be shades of difference in construing this. I have by no means a 
thoroughly matured judgment upon this subject, especially as to details; 
some general ideas are about all. I have long thought to produce any 
necessary article at home which can be made of as good quality and with 
as little labor at home as abroad, would be better policy, at least by the 
difference of the carrying from abroad. In such a case, the carrying ia 
demonstrably a dead loss of labor. For instance, labor being the true 
standard of value, is it not plain that if equal labor gets a bar of railroad 
iron out of a mine in England, and another out of a mine in Pennsyl- 
vania,, each can be laid down in a track at home cheaper than they could 
exchange countries, at least by the cost of carriage? If there be a pres- 
ent cause why one can be both made and carried cheaper in money 
price than the other can be made without carrying, that cause is an 
unnatural and injurious one, and ought naturally, if not rapidly, to be 
removed. The condition of the treasury at this time would seem to 
render an early revision of the Tariff indispensable. The Morrill Tariff 
Bill, now pending before Congress, may or may not become a law. 'I 
am not posted as to its particular provisions, but if they are generally 
satisfactory, and the bill shall now pass, there will be an end of the mat- 
ter for the present. If, however, it shall not pass, I suppose the whole 
subject will be one of the most pressing and important for the next Con- 
gress. By the Constitution, the Executive may recommend measures 
which he may think proper, and he may veto those he thinks improper, 
and it is supposed that he may add to these certain indirect influences 
to affect the action of Congress. My political education strongly inclines 
me against a very free use of any of these means by the Executive to 
control the legislation of the country. As a rule, I think it better that 
Congress should originate as well as perfect its measures without external 
bias. I, therefore, would rather recommend to every gentleman who 
knows he is to be a member of the next Congress to take an enlarged 
view, and inform himself thoroughly, so as to contribute his part to such 
an adjustment of the tariff as shall produce a sufficient revenue, and in its 
other bearings, so far as possible, be just and equal to all sections of the 
country, and all classes of the people. 

Mr. Lincoln left Pittsburg imme diately after tlie delivery 
of tins speech, "being accompanied to the depot by a long 
procession of the people of the city. The train reached 
Cleveland at half-past four in the afternoon, and the Pres- 
ident-elect was received by a long procession, which 
inarched, amidst the roar of artillery, through the princi- 



140 The Life, Public Services, and 

pal streets to the Weddell House, where Mr. Lincoln, in 
reply to an address of welcome from the Mayor, made the 
following remarks : — 

Mr. Chairman and Fet.i.ow-Citizens of Cleveland: — We have been 
marching ahout two miles through snow, rain, and deep mud. The large 
numbers that have turned out under these circumstances testify that you 
are in earnest about something or other. But do I think so meanly of 
you as to suppose that that earnestness is ahout me personally? I would 
be doing you injustice to suppose it was. You have assembled to testify 
your respect to the Union, and the Constitution and the laws. And here 
let me state that it is with you, the people, to advance the great cause of 
the Union and the Constitution, and not with anyone man. It rests with 
you aloT.e. This fact is strongly impressed on my mind at present. In a 
community like this, whose appearance testifies to their intelligence, I 
am convinced that the cause of liberty and the Union can never be in 
danger. Frequent allusion is made to the excitement at present existing 
in our national politics, and it is as well that I should also allude to it 
here. I think that there is no occasion for any excitement. The crisis, 
as it is called, is altogether an artificial crisis. In all parts of the nation 
there are differences of opinion on politics. There are differences of 
opinion even here. You did not all vote for the person who now ad- 
dresses you. What is happening now will not hurt those who are 
further away from here. Have they not all their rights now as they 
ever have had? Do not they have their fugitive slaves returned now as 
ever? Have they not the same Constitution that they have lived under 
for seventy odd years? Have they not a position as citizens of this com- 
mon country, and have we any power to change that position? [Cries 
of "No."] What, then, is the matter with them? Why all this excite- 
ment? Why all these complaints? As I said before, this crisis is all 
artificial! It has no foundation in fact. It was not " argued up, 1 ' as the 
saying is, and cannot therefore be argued down. Let it alone, and it will 
go down of itself. [Laughter.] Mr. Lincoln said 'that they must 
be content with but a few words from him. He was very much 
fatigued, and had spoken so much that he was already hoarse. lie 
thanked them for the cordial and magnificent reception they had given 
him. Not less did he thank them, for the votes they gave him last fall ; 
and quite as much he thanked them for the efficient aid they had given 
the cause which he represented — a cause which he would say was a good 
one. \ 

' He had one more word to say. He was given to understand that this 
reception was tendered not only by his own party supporters, but by 
men of all parties. This is as it should be. If Judge Douglas had been 
elected, and had been here, on his way to Washington, as I am to-night, 
the Republicans should have joined his supporters in welcoming him, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 141 

just as his friends have joined with mine to-night. If all do not join 
now to save the good old ship of the Union on this voyage, nohoily will 
have a chance to pilot her on another voyage. lie concluded by thank- 
ing all present for the devotion they had shown to the cause of the 
Union. 

On the morning of the 16th the Presidential party left 
Cleveland for Buffalo. At Erie, where they dined, loud 
calls were made upon Mr. Lincoln for a speech, in response 
to which he made a few remarks, excusing himself for not 
expressing his opinions on the exciting questions of the 
day. He trusted that when the time for Speaking should 
come, he should find it necessary to say nothing not in 
accordance with the Constitution, as well as with the 
interests of the people of the whole country. At North- 
east Station he took occasion to state that during the cam- 
paign he had received a letter from a young girl of the 
place, in which he was kindly admonished to do certain 
things, and among others to let his whiskers grow ; and, 
as he had acted upon that piece of advice, he would now 
be glad to welcome his fair corresjjondent, if she was 
among the crowd. In response to the call a lassie made 
her way through the crowd, was helped on the platform, 
and was kissed by the President. 

Arriving at Buffalo, Mr. Lincoln had the utmost diffi- 
culty to make his way through the dense crowd which 
had assembled in anticipation of his arrival. On reaching 
the American Hotel, he was welcomed in a brief speech by 
Acting-Mayor Bemis, to which he responded as follows : — 

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizens of Buffalo and the State of New 
York :— ^1 am here to thank yoa briefly for this grand reception given to 
me, not personally, but as the representative of our great and beloved 
country. [Cheers.] Your worthy Mayor has been pleased to mention, 
in his address to me, the fortunate and agreeable journey which I have 
had from home, only it is a rather circuitous route to the Federal Capital. 
I am very happy that he was enabled in truth to congratulate myself and 
company on that fact. It is true we have had nothing thus far to mar 
the pleasure of the trip. We have not been met alone by those who 
assisted in giving the election to me; I say not alone by them, but, by the 
whole population of the country through which we have passed. Tins ie 
as it should be. Had the election fallen to any other of the distinguished 



142 The Life, Public Services, and 

candidates instead of myself, under the peculiar circumstances, to say the 
least, it would have been proper for all citizens to have greeted him as 
you now greet me. It is an evidence of the devotion of the whole people 
lo the Constitution, the Union, and the perpetuity of the liberties of this 
country. [Cheers.] I am unwilling on any occasion that I should be so 
meanly thought of as to have it supposed for a moment that these demon- 
strations are tendered to me personally. They are tendered to the country, 
to the institutions of the country, and to the perpetuity of the liberties of 
the country, for which these institutions were made and created. 

Your worthy Mayor has thought tit to express the hope that I may be 
able to relieve the country from the present, or, I should say, the threat- 
ened difficulties. I am sure I bring a heart true to the work. [Tremen- 
dous applause.] For the ability to perform it, I must trust in that Supreme 
Being who has never forsaken this favored land, through the instrumen- 
tality of this great and intelligent people. Without that assistance I shall 
surely fail; with it, I cannot fail. When we speak of threatened difficul- 
ties to the country, it is natural that it should be expected that something 
should be said by myself with regard to particular measures. Upon more 
mature reflection, however — and others will agree with me — that, when 
it is considered that these difficulties are without precedent, and never 
have been acted upon by any individual situated as I am, it is most proper 
I should wait and see the developments, and get all the light possible, so 
that when I do speak authoritatively, I may be as near right as possible. 
[Cheers.] When I shall speak authoritatively, I hope to say nothing in- 
consistent with the Constitution, the Union, the rights of all the States, 
of each State, and of each section of the country, and not to disappoint 
the reasonable expectations of those who have confided to me their votes. 
In this connection allow me to say that you, as a portion of the great 
American people, need only to maintain your composure, stand up to 
your sober convictions of right, to your obligations to the Constitution, 
and act in accordance with those sober convictions, and the clouds which 
now arise in the horizon will be dispelled, and we shall have a bright and 
glorious future; and when this generation has passed away, tens of thou- 
sands will inhabit this country where only thousands inhabit it now. I 
do not propose to address you at length ; I have no voice for it. Allow me 
again to thank you for this magnificent reception, and bid you farewell. 

Mr. Lincoln remained at Buffalo over Sunday, the 17th, 
and on the morning of the 18th left for Albany. On 
reaching Rochester, he was introduced by the Mayor to a 
crowd of several thousands, to whom he said : — 

I confess myself, after having seen many large audiences since leaving 
home, overwhelmed with this vast number of faces at this hour of the 
morning. I am not vain enough to believe that you are here from any 
wish to see me as an individual, but because I am for the time being the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 143 

representative of the American people. I could not, if I^would, address 
7011 at any length. I have not the strength, even if I hail the time, for a 
speech at each of these many interviews that are afforded me on my way 
to "Washington. I appear merely to see you, and to let you see me, and 
to bid you farewell. I hope it will be understood that it is from no dis- 
inclination to oblige anybody that I do not address you at greater length. 

At Syracuse, where preparations had been made to give 
him a formal reception, he made the following remarks 
in reply to an address of welcome from the Mayor: — 

Ladies and Gentlemen : I see you have erected a very fine and hand- 
some platform here for me, and I presume you expected me to speak from 
it. If I should go upon it, you would imagine that I was about to deliver 
you a much longer speech than I am. I wish you to understand that I 
mean no discourtesy to you by thus declining. I intend discourtesy to no 
one. But I wish you to understand that, though I am unwilling to go 
upon this platform, you are not at liberty to draw any inferences concern- 
ing any other platform with which my name has been or is connected. 
[Laughter and applause.] I wish you long life and prosperity individu- 
ally, and pray that with the perpetuity of those institutions under which 
we have all so long lived and prospered, our happiness may be secured, 
our future made brilliant, and the glorious destiny of our country estab- 
lished forever. 1 bid you a kind farewell. 

At Utica, where an immense and most enthusiastic 
assemblage of people from the surrounding country had 
gathered to see him, Mr. Lincoln contented himself by 
saying :— 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — I have no speech to make to you, and no time 
to speak in. I appear before you that I may see you, and that you may 
see mc ; and I am willing to admit, that so far as the ladies are concerned, 
I have the best of the bargain, though I wish it to be understood that I 
do not make the same acknowledgment concerning the men. [Laughter 
and applause.] 

The train reached Albany at half- past two in the after- 
noon, where Mr. Lincoln was formally received by the 
Mayor in a complimentary address, to which he thus 
replied : — 

Mn. Mayor : — 1 can hardly appropriate to myself the flattering terms in 
which you communicate the tender of this reception, as personal to my- 
self. I most gratefully accept the hospitalities tendered to me, and will 
not detain you or the audience with any extended remarks at this time. 



144 The Life, Public Services, and 

I presume thal^in the two or three courses through which I shall have to 
go, I shall have to repeat somewhat, and I will therefore only repeat to 
you my thanks for this kind reception. 

A procession was then formed, which escorted Mr. Lin- 
coln to the steps of the Capital, where he was welcomed 
"by the Governor, in presence of an immense mass of the 
people, whom he addressed as follows : — 

Mr. Governor : — I was pleased to receive an invitation to visit the 
capital of the great Empire State of the nation, on my way to the Federal 
Capital, and I now thank you, Mr. Governor, and the people of this capital, 
and the people of the State of New York, for this most hearty and mag- 
nificent welcome. If I am not at fault, the great Empire State at this 
time contains a greater population than did the United States of America 
at the time she achieved her national independence. I am proud to ho 
invited to pass through your capital and meet them, as I now have the 
honor to do. 

I am notified by your Governor that this reception is given without 
distinction of party. I accept it the more gladly because it is so. Almost 
all men in this country, and in any country where freedom of thought 
is tolerated, attach themselves to political parties. It is but ordinary 
charity to attribute this to the fact that in so attaching himself to the 
party which his judgment prefers, the citizen believes he thereby promotes 
the best interests of the whole country ; and when an election is passed, 
it is altogether befitting a free people that, until the next election, they 
should be as one people. The reception you have extended to me to-day 
is not given to me personally. It should not be so, but as the representa- 
tive for the time being of the majority of the nation. If the election had 
resulted in the selection of either of the other candidates, the same cor- 
diality should have been extended to him as is extended to me this day, 
in testimony of the devotion of the whole people to the Constitution and 
the whole Union, and of their desire to perpetuate our institutions, and to 
hand them down in their perfection to succeeding generations. 

I have neither the voice nor the strength to address you at any greater 
length. I beg you will accept my most grateful thanks for this devotion — 
not to me, but to this great and glorious free country. 

Mr. Lincoln was then escorted to the Hall of Assembly, 
and was formally received on behalf of the members 
of the legislature, to whom he made the following ad- 
dress : — 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Legislature of TnE State of 
New York : — It is with feelings of great diffidence, and, I may say, with 
feelings of awe, perhaps greater than I have recently experienced, that I 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 145 

meet you bore in this place. The history of this great State, the renown 
of those great men who have stood here, and spoke here, and been heard 
here, all crowd around my fancy, and incline me to shrink from any 
attempt to address you. Yet I have some confidence given me by the 
generous manner in which you have invited me, and by the still more 
generous manner in which you have received me, to speak further. You 
have invited and received me without distinction of party. I cannot for 
a moment suppose that this has been done in any considerable degree 
with reference to my personal services, but that it is done in so far as I 
am regarded at this time as the representative of the majesty of this great 
nation. I doubt not this is the truth, and the whole truth, of the case, 
and this is as it should be. It is much more gratifying to me that this 
reception has been given to me as the representative of a free people, 
than it could possibly be if tendered as an evidence of devotion to me^ cr 
to any one man personally. And now I think it were more fitting that 
I should close these hasty remarks. It is true that, while I hold myself, 
without mock modesty, the humblest of all individuals that Lave ever 
been elevated to the Presidency, I have a more difficult task to perform 
than any one of them. You have generously tendered me the uniled 
support of the great Empire State. For this, iu behalf of the nation — in 
behalf of the present and future of the nation — in behalf of civil and 
religious liberty for all time to come, most gratefully do I thank you. I 
I do not propose to enter into an explanation of any particular line of 
policy, as to our present difficulties, to be adopted by the incoming Ad- 
ministration. I deem it just to you, to myself, and to all, that I should 
see every thing, that I should hear every thing, that I should have every 
light that can be brought within my reach, in order that, when I do so 
speak, I shall have enjoyed every opportunity to take correct and true 
grounds ; and for this reason I don't propose to speak, at this time, of the 
policy of the Government. But when the time comes I shall speak, aa 
well as I am able, for the good of the present and future of this country— 
for the good both of the North and the South of this country — for the 
good of the one and the other, and of all sections of the country. [Rounds 
of applause.] In the mean time, if we have patience, if we restrain our- 
selves, if we allow ourselves not to run off in a passion, I "still have confi- 
dence that the Almighty, the Maker of the Universe, will, through the 
instrumentality of this great and intelligent people, bring us through this, 
as he has through all the other difficulties of our country. Relying on 
this, I again thank you for this generous reception. [Applause and 
cheers.] 

On the morning of the 19th Mr. Lincoln went to Troy, 
and, in reply to the welcome of the Mayor, said : — 

Mr. Mayor and Citizens of Troy: — I thank you very kindly for this 
great reception. Since I left my home it has not been my fortune to meet 
]0 



146 Tee Life, Public Services, and 

an assemblage more numerous and moro orderly than this. I am the 
more graithed at this mark of your regard, since you assure me it is ten- 
dered, not to the individual, but to the high office you have called me to 
till. 1 have neither strength nor time to make any extended remarks, and 
I can only repeat to you my sincere thanks for the kind reception you 
have thought proper to extend to me. 

On the route to New York, by the Hudson River Rail- 
road, very large crowds of people had assembled at the 

various stations to welcome him. At Hudson lie spoke 
as follows : — 

Fellow-Citizens : — I see that you have provided a piatform, but I shall 
have to decline standing on it. [Laughter and applause.] The superin- 
tendent tells me I have not time during our brief stay to leave the train. 
1 had to decline standing on some very handsome platforms prepared for 
me yesterday. But I say to you, as I said to them, you must not on this 
account draw the inference that I have any intention to desert any plat 
form I have a legitimate right to stand on. I do not appear before you 
for the purpose of making a speech. I come only to see you, and to give 
you the opportunity to see me ; and I say to you, as I have before said to 
crowds where there are so many handsome ladies as there are here, I 
think I have decidedly the best of the bargain. I have only, therefore, 
to thank you most cordially for this kind reception, and bid you all fare- 
well. 

At Poughkeepsie, where great preparations had been 
made for his reception, he responded thus to an address 
from the Mayor : — 

Fellow-Citizens: — It is altogether impossible I should make myself 
heard by any considerable portion of this vast assemblage ; but, although 
I appear before you mainly for the purpose of seeing you, and to let you 
see, rather than hear me, I cannot refrain from saying that I am highly 
gratified — as much here, indeed, under the circumstances, as I have been 
anywhere on my route — to witness this noble demonstration — made, not 
in honor of an individual, but of the man who at this time humbly, but 
earnestly, represents the majesty of the nation. This reception, like all 
others that have been tendered to me, doubtless emanates from all the 
political parties, and not from one alone. As such I accept it the more 
gratefully, since it indicates an earnest desire on the part of the whole 
people, without regard to political differences, to save — not the country, 
because the country" will save itself — but to save the institutions of the 
country — those institutions under which, in the last three-quarters of a 
century, we have grown to be a great, an intelligent, and a happy people 
—the greatest, the most intelligent, and the happiest people in the world 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, 147 

These noble manifestations indicate, with unerring certainty, that the 
whole people are willing to make common cause for this object; that if, 
as it ever must be, some have been successful in the recent election, and 
some have been beaten — if some are satisfied, and some are dissatisfied, 
tbe defeated party are not in favor of sinking the ship, but are desirous 
of running it through the tempest in safety, and willing, if they think the 
people have committed an error in their verdict now, to wait in the hope 
of reversing it, and setting it right next time. I do not say that in the 
recent election the people did the wisest thing that could have been done; 
indeed, I do not think they did ; but I do say, that in accepting the great 
trust committed to me, which I do with a determination to endeavor to 
prove worthy of it, I must rely upon you, upon the people of the whole 
country, for support; and with their sustaining aid, even I, humble as I 
am, cannot fail to carry the ship of State safely through the storm. 

I have now only to thank you warmly for your kind attendance, and 
bid you all an affectionate farewell. 

At Peekskill, in reply to a "brief address from Judge 
Nelson, he said : — 

Ladies axd Gentlemen : — I have but a moment to stand before you, to 
listen to and return your kind greeting. I thank you for this reception, 
and for the pleasant manner in which it is tendered to me, by our mutual 
friend. I will say in a single sentence, in regard to the difficulties that 
lie before me and our beloved country, that if I can only be as generously 
and unanimously sustained as the demonstrations I have witnessed indi- 
cate I shall be, I shall not fail ; but without your sustaining hands I am 
sure that neither I, nor any other man, can hope to surmount these diffi- 
culties. I trust that in the course I shall pursue I shall be sustained, not 
only by the party that elected me, but by the patriotic people of the whole 
country. 

The President-elect reached New York at three o'clock, 
and was received by an immense demonstration of popu 
lar enthusiasm. Places of business were generally closed, 
and the streets were tilled with people, eager to catch a 
glimpse of his person. On reaching the Astor House, he 
was compelled by the importunity of the assembled crowd 
to appear on the balcony, from which he said : — 

Felt.ow-Citizexs : — I have stepped before you merely in compliance 
with what appears to be your wish, and not with the purpose of making 
a speech. I do not propose making a speech this afternoon. I could hot 
be heard by any but a small fraction of you, at best; but. what is still 
worse than that, I have nothing just now to say that is worthy of your 
hearing. [Applause.] I beg you to believe that I do not now refuse to 



14 S The Life, Public Services, and 

address you from any disposition to disoblige you, but to the contrary. 
But, at the'saine time, I beg of you to excuse me for the present. 

In the evening, Mr. Lincoln received a large deputation 
from the various Republican associations which had 
taken an active part in the election canvass, and in reply 
to a brief welcome from Mr. E. D. Smith, on their behalf, 
he thus addressed them : — 

Me. CnAiEMAN and Gentlemen : — I am rather an old man to avail 
myself of such an excuse as I am now about to do. Yet the truth is so 
distinct, and presses itself so distinctly upon me, that I cannot well avoid 
it — and that is, that I did not understand when I was brought into this 
room that I was brought here to make a speech. It was not intimated to 
me that I was brought into the room where Daniel Webster and Henet 
Clay had made speeches, and where, in my position, I might be expected 
to do something like those men, or do something worthy of myself or my 
audience. I, therefore, will beg you to make very great allowance for 
the circumstances in which I have been by surprise brought before 
you. .Now, I have been in the habit of thinking and speaking sometimes 
upon political questions that have for some years past agitated the coun- 
try ; and, if I were disposed to do so, and we could take up some one of 
the issues, as the lawyers call them, and I were called upon to make an 
argument about it to the best of my ability, I could do so without much 
preparation. But that is not what you desire to be done here to-night. 

I have been occupying a position since the Presidential election of 
silence, of avoiding public freaking, of avoiding public writing. I have 
been doing so, because I tb.or.ght, upon full consideration, that was the 
proper course for me to take. [Great Applause.] I am brought before 
you now, and required to make a speech, when you all approve more than 
any thing else of the fact that I have been keeping silence. [Great laugh- 
ter, cries of "Good," and applause.] And now it seems to me that the 
response you give to that remark ought to justify me in closing just here. 
[Great laughter.] I have not kept silence sinee the Presidential election 
from any party wantonness, or from any indifference to the anxiety that 
pervades the minds of men about the aspect of the political affairs of this 
country. I have kept silence for the reason that I supposed it was pecu- 
liarly proper that 1 should do so until the time came when, according to 
the custom of the country, I could speak officially. 

A voice — The custom of the country? 

T heard some gentleman say, " According to the custom of the country." 
I alluded to the custom of the President-elect, at the time of taking the 
oath of office. That is what I meant by " the custom of the country." 
I do suppose that, while the political drama being enacted in this coun- 
try, at this time, is rapidly shifting its scenes — forbidding an anticipation, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 149 

with any degree of certainty, to-day, what we shall see to-morrow — it 
was peculiarly fitting that I should see it all, up to the last minute, before 
T should take ground that I might be disposed (by the shifting of the 
scenes afterwards) also to shift. [Applause.] I have said, several times, 
upon this journey, and I now repeat it to you, that when the time does 
come, I shall then take the ground that I think is right — [applause] — the 
ground- that I think is right— [applause, and cries of " Good, good " — right 
for the North, for the South, for the East, for the West, for the whole 
country. [Cries of " Good," "Hurrah for Lincoln," and applause.] And 
in doing so, I hope to feel no necessity pressing upon me to say any thing 
in conflict with the Constitution ; in conflict with the continued union of 
these States — [applause] — in conflict with the perpetuation of the liberties 
of this people — [applause] — or any thing in conflict with any thing what- 
ever that I have ever given you reason to expect from me. [Applause.] 
And now, my friends, have I said enough? [Loud cries of "No, no," 
and three cheers for Lincoln.] Now, my friends, there appears to be a 
difference of opinion between you and me, and I really feel called upon 
to decide the question myself. [Applause, during which Mr. Lincoln 
descended from the table.] 

On the morning of the 20th Mr. Lincoln proceeded to 
the City Hall, where it had been arranged that he should 
have an official reception. He was there addressed by 
Mayor Wood in the following terms : — 

Mr. Lixooln: — As Mayor of New York, it becomes my duty to extend 
to you an official welcome in behalf of the Corporation. In doing so, per- 
mit me to say, that this city has never offered hospitality to a man clothed 
with more exalted powers, or resting under graver responsibilities, than 
those which circumstances have devolved upon you. Coming into office 
with a dismembered Government to reconstruct, and a disconnected and 
hostile people to reconcile, it will require a high patriotism, and an eleva 
ted comprehension of the whole country and its varied interests, opinions, 
and prejudices, to so conduct public affairs as to bring it back again to its 
former harmonious, consolidated, and prosperous condition. If I refer to 
this topic, sir, it is because New York is deeply interested. The present 
political divisions have sorely afflicted her people. All her material inter- 
ests are paralyzed. Her commercial greatness is endangered. She is the 
child of the American Union. She has grown up under its maternal care, 
and been fostered by its paternal bounty, and we fear that if the Union 
die*, the present supremacy of New York may perish with it. To yon, 
therefore, chosen under the forms of the Constitution as the head of th» 
Confederacy, we look for a restoration of fraternal relations between the 
States — only to be accomplished by peaceful and conciliatory means, aided 
by the wisdom of Almighty God. 



150 The Life, Public Services, and 

To this address Mr. Lincoln made the following re- 
Pty : ~ 

Mr. Mayor: — It is with feelings of deep gratitude that I make my 
acknowledgments for the reception that lias been given me in the jwreut 
commercial City of New York. I cannot but remember that it is done by 
the people, who do not, by a large majority, agree with me in political 
sentiment. It is the more grateful to me, because in this I see that for 
the great principles of our Government the people are pretty nearly or 
quite unanimous. In regard to the difficulties that confront us at this 
time, and of which you have seen fit to speak so becomingly and so justly, 
I can only say that I agree with the sentiments expressed. In my devo- 
tion to the Union I hope I am behind no man in tbe nation. As to my 
wisdom in conducting affairs so as to tend to the preservation of the 
Union, I fear too great confidence may have been placed in me. I am 
sure I bring a heart devoted to the work. There is nothing that could 
ever bring me to consent — willingly to consent — to the destruction of tins 
Union (in which not only the great City of New York, but tbe whole 
country, has acquired its greatness), unless it would be that thing for 
which the Union itself was made. I understand that the ship is made for 
tbe carrying and preservation of the cargo ; and so long as the ship is 
safe with tbe cargo, it shall not be abandoned. This Union shall never 
be abandoned, unless the possibility of its existence shall cease to exist, 
without the necessity of throwing passengers ard cargo overboard. So 
long, then, as it is possible that tbe prosperity and liberties of this people 
can be preserved within this Union, it shall be my purpose at all times to 
preserve it. And now, Mr. Mayor, renewing my thanks for this cordial 
reception, allow me to come to a close. [Applause.] 

On the morning of Thursday, the 21st, Mr. Lincoln left 
New York for Philadelphia, and on reaching Jersey City 
was met and welcomed, on behalf of the State, by the 
Hon. W. L. Dayton, to whose remarks he made this re- 

piy:- 

Mr. Dayton and Gentlemen of the State of New Jeesey : — I shall 
only thank you briefly for this very kind reception given me, not person- 
ally, but as tbe temporary representative of tbe majesty of the nation. 
[Applause.] To the kindness of your hearts, and of tbe hearts of your 
brethren in your State, 1 should be very proud to respond, but I shall not 
have strength to address you or other assemblages at length, even if I had 
the time to do so. I appear before you, therefore, for little else than to 
greet you, and to briefly say farewell. You have done me the very high 
honor to pn-sent your reception courtesies to me through your great man 
— a man with whom it is an honor to be associated anywhere, and in 
owning whom no State can be poor. [Applause.] lie has said enough, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 151 

and by the saying of it suggested enough, to require a response of an hour 
well considered. [Applause.] I. could not in an hour make a worthy 
response to it. 1 therefore, ladies and gentlemen of New Jersey, content 
myself with saying, most heartily do I indorse all the sentiments he lias 
expressed. [Applause.] Allow me, most gratefully, to hid you farewell. 
[Applause.] 

At Newark lie was welcomed "by the Mayor, to whom 
he said : — 

Mb. Mayor: — I thaiik you for this reception at the city of Newark. 
With regard to the great work of which you speak, I will say that I bring 
to it a heart tilled with love for my country, and an honest desire to do 
what is right. I am sure, however, that I have not the ability to do any 
thing unaided of God,' and that without his support, aud that of this free, 
happy, prosperous, and intelligent people, no man can succeed in doing 
that the importance of which we all comprehend. Again thanking you 
for the reception you have given me, I will now bid you farewell, and 
proceed upon my journey. 

At Trenton he was received by a committee of the 
legislature, and escorted to both branches, which were 
in session. The President of the Senate welcomed him in 
a brief address, to which he made the following reply : — 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of TnE Senate of the State of 
New Jersey : — I am very grateful to you for 1 the honorable reception of 
which I have been the object. I cannot but remember the place that 
New Jersey holds in our early history. In the early Revolutionary strug- 
gle few of the States among the Old Thirteen had more of the battle-fields 
of the country within their limits than old New Jersey. May I be par- 
doned if, upon this occasion, I mention that away back in my childhood, 
the earliest days of my being able to read, I got hold of a small book, 
such a one as few of the younger members have ever seen, " Weem's Life 
of Washington.' 1 '' I remember all the accounts there given of the battle- 
fields and struggles for the liberties of the country, and none fixed them- 
selves upon my imagination so deeply as the struggle here at Trenton, 
New Jersey. The crossing of the river; the contest with the Hessians; 
the great hardships endured at that time, all fixed themselves on my 
memory more than any single Revolutionary event; and you all know, for 
you have all been boys, how these early impressions last longer than any 
others. I recollect thinking then, boy even though I was, that thero 
must have been something more than common that these men struggled 
for. I am exceedingly anxious that that thing which they struggled for; 
that something even more than National Independence; that something 
that held out a great promise to all the people of the world to all time to 



152 The Life, Public Services, and 

come — I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, the Constitution, and 
the liberties of the people shall be perpetuated in accordance with the 
original idea for which that struggle was made, and I shall be most happy 
indeed if I shall be an humble instrument in the bands of the Almighty, 
and of this, his most chosen people, as the chosen instrument — also in the 
hands of the Almighty — for perpetuating the object of that great struggle. 
You give me this reception, as I understand, without distinction of party. 
I learn that this body is composed of a majority of gentlemen who, in the 
exercise of their best judgment in the choice of a Chief Magistrate, did 
not think I was the man. I understand, nevertheless, that they came 
forward here to greet me as the constitutional President of the United 
States — as citizens of the United States to meet the man who, for the 
time being, is the representative man of the nation — united by a purpose 
to perpetuate the Union and liberties of the people. As such, I accept 
this reception more gratefully than I could do did I believe it was ten- 
dered to me as an individual. 

Mr. Lincoln then passed to the Assembly Chamber, 
where, in reply to the Speaker, he said : — 

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen: — I have just enjoyed the honor of a 
reception by the other branch of this legislature, and I return to you 
and them my thanks for the reception which the people of New Jersey 
have given through their chosen representatives to me as the representa- 
tive, for the time being, of the majesty of the people of the United States. 
I appropriate to myself very little of the demonstrations of respect with 
which I have been greeted. I think little should be given to any man, 
but that it should be a manifestation of adherence to the Union and the 
Constitution. I understand myself to be received here by the representa- 
tives of the people of New Jersey, a majority of whom differ in opinion 
from those with whom I have acted. This manifestation is, therefore, to 
he regarded by me as expressing their devotion to the Union, the Consti- 
tution, and the liberties of the people. You, Mr. Speaker, have well said 
that this is a time when the bravest and wisest look with doubt and awe 
upon the aspect presented by our national affairs. Under these circum- 
stances, you will readily see why I should not speak in detail of the course 
I shall deem it best to pursue. It is proper that I should avail myself of 
all the information and all the time at my command, in order that when 
the time arrives in which I must speak officially, I shall be able to take the 
ground which I deem the best and safest, and from which I may have no 
occasion to swerve. I shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most 
just to the North, the East, the West, the South, and the whole country. 
I take it, I hope, in good temper, certainly with no malice towards any 
section. I shall do all that may be in my power to promote a peaceful 
settlement of all our difficulties. The man does not live who is more de- 
voted to peace than I am. [Cheers.] None who would do more to pre- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 153 

lerve it, but it maybe necessary to put tbe foot down firmly. [ITere tbe 
iudience broke out into cheers so loud and long, that for some moments 
t was impossible to hear Mr. Lincoln's voice.] And if I do my duty and 
lo right, you will sustain me, will you not ? [Loud cheers, and cries of 
' Yes, yes, we will."] Received, as I am, by the members of a legislature, 
the majority of whom do not agree with me in political sentiments, I 
trust that I may have their assistance in piloting the ship of State 
througli this voyage, surrounded by perils as it is; for if it should suffer 
wreck now, there will be no pilot ever needed for another voyage. Gen- 
tlemen, I have already spoken longer than I intended, and must beg leavo 
to stop here. 

The procession then moved to the Trenton House, 
■where the President-elect made the following speech to 
the crowd outside : — 

I have been invited by your representatives to the Legislature to visit 
this, the capital of your honored State, and in acknowledging their kind 
invitation, compelled to respond to the welcome of the presiding officers of 
each body, and I suppose they intended I should speak to you through 
them, as they are the representatives of all of you ; and if I was to speak 
again here, I should only have to repeat, in a great measure, much that I 
have said, which would be disgusting to my friends around me who have 
met here. I have no speech to make, but merely appear to see you and 
ht you look at me ; and as to the latter, I think I have greatly the best of 
the bargain. [Laughter.] My friends, allow me to bid you farewell. 

The party arrived at Philadelphia at 4 o'clock, and the 
President-elect, proceeding immediately to the Continen- 
tal Hotel, was welcomed in a "brief speech from Mayor 
Henry, to which he replied as follows : — 

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizens of Philadelphia : — I appear before 
you to make no lengthy speech, but to thank you for this reception. Tho 
reception you have given me to-night is not to me, the man, the individ- 
ual, but to the man who temporarily represents, or should represent, the 
majesty of the nation. [Cheers.] It is true, as your worthy Mayor has 
said, that there is anxiety amongst the citizens of the United States at this 
time. I deem it a happy circumstance that this dissatisfied position of our 
fellow-citizens does not point us to any thing in which they are being 
injured, or about to be injured; for which reason, I have felt all the while 
justified in concluding that the crisis, the panic, the anxiety of the coun- 
try at this time, is artificial. If there be- those who differ with me upon 
this subject, they have not pointed out the substantial difficulty that 
exists. I do not mean to say that an artificial panic may not do consid- 
erable harm ; that it has done such I do not deny. The hope that has 



154 The Life, Public Services, and 

been expressed by your Mayor, that I may be able to restore peace, har- 
mony, and prosperity to the country, is most worthy of him ; and happy, 
indeed, will I be if I shall be able to verily and fulfil that hope. [Tre- 
mendous cheering.] I promise you, in all sincerity, that I bring to the 
work a sincere heart. Whether I will bring a head equal to that heart 
will be for future times to determine. It were useless for me to speak of 
details of plans now; I shall speak officially next Monday week, if ever. 
If I shoald not speak then, it were useless for me to do so now. If I do 
speak then, it is useless for me to do so now. When I do speak, I shall 
take such ground as I deem best calculated to restore peace, harmony, 
and prosperity to the country, and tend to the perpetuity of the nation 
and the liberty of these States and these people. Your worthy Mayor 
has expressed the wish, in which I join with him, that it were convenient 
for me to remain in your city long enough to consult your merchants and 
manufacturers ; or, as it were, to listen to those breathings rising within 
the consecrated walls wherein the Constitution of the United States, and, 
I will add, the Declaration of Independence, were originally framed and 
adopted. [Enthusiastic applause.] I assure you and your Mayor that I 
had hoped on this occasion, and upon all occasions during my life, that I 
shall do nothing inconsistent with the teachings of these holy and most 
sacred walls. I never asked any thing that does not breathe from those 
w r alls. All my political warfare lias been in favor of the teachings that 
came forth from these sacred walls. May my right hand forget its cun- 
ning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if ever I prove false 
to those teachings. Fellow-citizens, I have addressed you longer than I 
expected to do, and now allow me to bid you good-night. 

On the 21st, Mr. Lincoln visited the old Independence 
Hall, from which was originally issued the Declaration 
of Independence. He was received in a cordial speech 
"by Mr. Theodore Cuyler, to which he made the follow- 
ing response : — 

Mr. Ctjtlek : — I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself standing 
here in this place, where were collected together the wisdom, the patriot- 
ism, the devotion to principle from which sprang the institutions under 
which we live. You have kindly suggested to me that in my hands 
is the task of restoring peace to the present distracted condition of the 
country. I can say in return, sir, that all the political sentiments 
I entertain have been drawn, so far as I have been able to draw them, 
from the sentiments which originated in and were given to the world 
from this hall. I have never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring 
from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. I 
have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men 
who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of hide- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 155 

pendence. I have pondered over the toils that were endured hy the offi- 
cers and soldiers of the army who achieved that independence. I have 
often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this 
Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the sep- 
aration of the Colonies from the mother-laud, hut that sentiment in the 
Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people 
of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. [Great ap- 
plause.] It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight 
would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. This is the sentiment em- 
bodied in the Declaration of Independence. Now, my friends, can this 
country be saved upon that basis? If it can, I will consider myself one 
of the happiest men in the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot be 
saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. But if this country can- 
not be saved without giving up that principle, I was about to say I would 
rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it. [Applause.] Now, 
in my view of the present aspect of affairs, there need be no bloodshed 
or war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course; 
and I may say in advance that there will be no bloodshed unless it be 
forced upon the Government, and then it will be compelled to act in self- 
defence. [Applause.] 

My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech, and I did not expect 
to be called upon to say a word when-I came here. I supposed it was 
merely to do something towards raising the flag — I may, therefore, have 
said something indiscreet. [Cries of " No, no."] I have said nothing but 
what I am willing to live by, and, if it he the pleasure of Almighty God, 
die by. 

One object of l&e visit to tlie Hall was, to have Mr. 
Lincoln assist in raising the national flag over the Hall. 
Arrangements had been made for the performance of this 
ceremony, and Mr. Lincoln was escorted to the platform 
prepared for the purpose, and was invited, in a brief ad- 
dress, to raise the flag. He responded in a patriotic 
speech, announcing his cheerful compliance with the re- 
quest He alluded to the original flag of thirteen stars, 
saying that the number had increased as time rolled on, 
and we became a happy, powerful people, each star add- 
ing to its prosperity. The future is in the hands of the 
people. It was on such an occasion we could reason to- 
gether, reaffirmour devotion to the country and the prin 
ciples of the Declaration of Independence. Let us make 
up our minds, said he, that whenever we do put a new star 
upon our banner, it shall be a fixed one, never to be 



156 The Life, Public Services, and 

dimmed "by the horrors of war, "but brightened by the 
contentment and prosperity of peace. Let us go on to 
extend the area of our usefulness, and add star upon star, 
until their light shall shine over five hundred millions of 
free and happy people. He then performed his part in 
the ceremony, amidst a thundering discharge of artillery. 
In the afternoon he left for the West. On reaching 
Lancaster he was received with a salute, and replied to 
an address of welcome in the following words : — 

Ladies and Gentlemen of Old Lancaster : — I appear not to make a, 
speech. I have not time to make a speech at length, and not strength to 
make them on every occasion ; and worse than all, I have none to make. 
There is plenty of matter to speak about in these times, but it is well 
known that the more a man speaks the less he is understood— the more 
he says one thing, the more his adversaries contend he meant something 
else. I shall soon have occasion to speak officially, and then I will en- 
deavor to put my thoughts just as plain as I can express myself — true to 
the Constitution and Union of all the States, and to the perpetual liberty 
of all the people. Until I so speak, there is no need to enter upon details. 
In conclusion, I greet you most 'heartily, and bid you an affectionate 
farewell. 

On reaching Harrisburg, on the 22d, Mr. Lincoln was 
escorted to the legislature, and was welcomed by the 
presiding officers of the two houses, to whom he replied 
as follows : — 

I appear before you only for a very few, brief remarks, in response to 
what has been said to me. I thank you most sincerely for this reception, 
and the generous words in which support has been promised me upon 
this occasion. I thank your great Commonwealth for the overwhelming 
support it recently gave, not me personally, but the cause which I think 
a just one, in the late election. [Loud applause.] Allusion has been 
made to the fact — the interesting fact, perhaps, we should say — that I for 
the first time appear at the Capital of the great Commonwealth of Penn- 
sylvania upon the birthday of the Father of his Country, in connection 
with that beloved anniversary connected with the history of this country. 
I have already gone through one exceedingly interesting scene this morn- 
ing in the ceremonies at Philadelphia. Under the high conduct of gentle- 
men there, I was for the first time allowed the privilege of standing in 
eld Independence Hall [enthusiastic cheering], to have a few words 
addressed to me there, and opening up to me an opportunity of express- 
ing, with much regret, that I had not more time time to express come 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 157 

thing of in j own feelings, excited by the occasion, somewhat to harmonize 
and give shape to the feelings that had been really the feelings of my 
whole life. Besides this, our friends there had provided a magnificent 
flag of the country. They had arranged it so that I was given the honor 
of arising it to the head of its staff. [Applause.] And when it went up, I 
was pleased that it went to its place by the strength of my own feeble arm, 
when, according to the arrangement, the cord was pulled, and it floated 
gloriously to the wind, without an accident, in the light, glowing sunshine 
of the morning. I could not help hoping that there was, in the entire sftc- 
cess of that beautiful ceremony, at least something of an omen of what is to 
come. [Loud applause.] LTow could I help feeling then as I often have felt? 
In the whole of that proceeding I was a very humble instrument. I had 
not provided the flag; I had not made the arrangements for elevating it 
to its place ; I had applied but a very small portion of my feeble strength 
in raising it. In the whole transaction I was in the. hands of the people 
who had arranged it, and if I can have the same generous co-operation of 
the people of the nation, I think the flag of our country may yet be kept 
flaunting gloriously. [Loud, enthusiastic, and continued cheers.] I recur 
for a moment but to repeat some words uttered at the hotel, in regard to 
what has been said about the military support which the General Govern- 
ment may expect from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a proper 
emergency. To guard against any possible mistake do I recur to this. 
It is not with any pleasure that I contemplate the possibility that a neces- 
sity may arise in this country for the use of the military arm. [Applause.] 
While I am exceedingly gratified to see the manifestation upon your 
streets of your military force here, and exceedingly gratified at your 
promises here to use that force upon a proper emergency — while I make 
these acknowledgments I desire to repeat, in order to preclude any pos- 
sible misconstruction, that I do most sincerely hope that we shall have 
no use for them. [Applause.] That it will never become their duty to 
shed blood, and most especially never to shed fraternal blood. I promise 
that, so far as I may have wisdom to direct, if so painful a result shall in 
any-wise be brought about, it shall be through no fault of mine. [Cheers.] 
Allusion has also been made by one of your honored speakers to some 
remarks recently.made by myself at'Pittsburg, in regard to what is sup- 
posed to be the especial interest of this great Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
vania. I now wish only to say, in regard to that matter, that the few 
remarks which I uttered on that occasion were rather carefully worded. 
I took pains that they should be so. I have seen no occasion since to add 
to them, or subtract from them. I leave them precisely as they stand 
[applause], adding only now, that I am pleased to have an expression from 
you, gentlemen of Pennsylvania, significant that they are satisfactory to 
you. And now, gentlemen of the General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania, allow me to return you again my most sincere 
thanks. 



15S The Life, Public Services, and 

After the delivery of this address, Mr. Lincoln devoted 
some hours to the reception of visitors, and at six o'clock 
retired to his room. The next morning the whole coun- 
try was surprised to learn that he had arrived in Wash- 
ington — twelve hours sooner than he had originally in- 
tended. His sudden departure proved to have been a 
measure of precaution for which events subsequently 
disclosed afforded a full justification. For some time pre- 
vious to his departure from home, the rumor had been 
current that he would never reach the Capital alive. An 
attempt was made on the Toledo and Western Railroad, 
on the 11th of February, to throw from the track the train 
on which he was journeying, and just as he was leaving 
Cincinnati a hand grenade was found to have been se- 
creted on board the cars. These and other circumstances 
led to an organized and thorough investigation, under the 
direction of a police detective, carried on with great skill 
and perseverance at Baltimore, and which resulted in dis- 
closing the fact that a small gang of assassins, under the 
leadership of an Italian who assumed the name of Orsini, 
had arranged to take his life during his passage through 
Baltimore. General Scott and Mr. Seward had both been 
apprised of the same fact through another source, and 
they had sent Mr. F. W. Seward as a special messenger 
to Philadelphia, to meet the President-elect there, pre- 
vious to his departure for Harrisburg, and give him 
notice of these circumstances. Mr. Lincoln did not 
deviate from the programme he had marked out for him- 
self, in consequence of these communications ; except 
that, under the advice of friends, he deemed it prudent 
to anticipate by one train the time he was expected to 
arrive in Washington. He reached there on the morning 
of Saturday, the 23d. 

On Wednesday, the 27th, the Mayor and Common 
Council of the city waited upon Mr. Lincoln, and ten- 
dered him a welcome. He replied to them as follows : — 

Mr. Mayor: — I thank yon, and through you the municipal authorities 
of this city who accompany you, for this welcome. And us it is the first 



- 



■J. - 



Z z.^ 
Z =" '■*• 




StxVte Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 159 

time in my life, since the present phase of politics has presented itself in 
this country, that I have said any thing publicly within a region of 
country where the institution of slavery exists, I will take this occasion 
to say, that I think very much of the ill-feeling that has existed and still 
exists between the people in the sections from which I came and the 
people here, is dependent upon a misunderstanding of one another. I 
therefore avail myself of this opportunity to assure you, Mr. Mayor, and 
all the gentlemen present, that I have not now, and never have had, any 
other than as kindly feelings towards you as the people of my own 
section. I have not now, and never have had, any disposition to treat 
you in any respect otherwise than as my own neighbors. I have -not 
now any purpose to withhold from you any of the benefits of the Consti- 
tution, under any circumstances, that I would not feel myself constrained 
to withhold from my own neighbors ; and I hope, in a word, that when 
we shall become better acquainted — and I say it with great confidence — 
we shall like each other the more. I thank you for the kindness of this 
reception. 

On the next evening a serenade was given to Mr. 
Lincoln by the members of the Republican Association, 
and he then addressed the crowd which the occasion had 
brought together as follows : — 

My Friexds : — I suppose that I may take this as a compliment paid to 
me, and as such please accept my thanks for it. I have reached this City 
of Washington under circumstances considerably differing from those 
under which any other man has ever reached it. I am here for the pur- 
pose of taking an official position amongst the people, almost all of whom 
were politically opposed to me, and are yet opposed to me, as I suppose. 

I propose no lengthy address to you. I only propose to say, as I did 
on yesterday, when your worthy Mayor and Board of Aldermen called 
upon me, that I thought much of the ill feeling that has existed between 
you and the people of your surroundings and that people from among 
whom I came, has depended, and now depends, upon a misunder- 
standing. 

I hope that, if things shall go along as prosperously as I believe we all 
desire they may, I may have it in my power to remove something of this 
misunderstanding; that I may be enabled to convince you, and the people 
of your section of the country, that we regard you as in all things our 
equals, and in all things entitled to the same respect and the same treat 
meut that we claim for ourselves; that we are in no wise disposed, if it 
were in our power, to oppress ycu, to deprive you of any of your rights 
under the Constitution of the United States, or even narrowly to split 
hairs with you in regard to these rights, but are determined to give yon, 
as far as lies in our hands, all your rights under the Constitution — not 



1G0 The Life, Public Services, and 



grudgingly, but fully and fairly. [Applause.] I hope that, by thus dealing 
with you, we will become better acquainted, and be better friends. 

And now, my friends, with these few remarks, and again returning my 
thanks for this compliment, and expressing my desire to hear a littlo 
more of your good music, I bid you good-night. 

Tins closed Mr. Lincoln's pulblic speeches down to the 
date of his inauguration. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 1G1 



CHAPTER VI. 

FROM THE INAUGURATION TO THE MEETING- OF CONGRESS, 
JULY 4, 1861. 

The Inaugural Address. — Organization of the Government. — Tub 
Bombardment of Fort Sumter. — Passage of Troops the iron Bal- 
timore. — Interview with tiie Mayor of Baltimore. — Tiie Block- 
ade of Rebel Ports. — The President and the Virginia Commis- 
sioners. — Instruction to our Ministers abroad. — Pecognition of 
the Rebels as Belligerents. — Bights of Keuteals. 

Ox the 4th of March, 1861, Mr. Lincoln took the oath 
and assumed the duties of the Presidential office. He was 
quite right in saying, on the eve of his departure from his 
home in Springfield, that those duties were greater than 
had devolved upon any other man since the days of 
Washington. A conspiracy which had been on foot for 
thirty years had reached its crisis. Yet in spite of all 
that had "been done by the leading spirits in this move- 
ment, the people of the slaveholding States were by no 
means a unit in its support. Seven of those States— South 
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, 
and Louisiana — had passed secession ordinances, and 
united in the establishment of a hostile Confederacy ; but 
in nearly all of them a considerable portion of the peojue 
were opposed to the movement, while in all the remaining 
slaveholding States a very active canvass was carried on 
between the friends and the opponents of secession. In 
Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee especially, 
the Government of the United States was vindicated and 
ils authority sustained by men of pre-eminent ability and 
of commanding reputation, and there seemed abundant 
reason for hoping that, by the adoption of prudent meas 
nres, the slaveholding section might be divided, and the 
Border Slave States retained in the Union. The authori- 
ties of the rebel Confederacy saw the importance of push- 
n 



162 The Life, Public Services, and 

ing the issue to an instant decision. Under their directions 
nearly all tlie forts, arsenals, dock-yards, custom-houses, 
&c, belonging to the United States, within the limits of 
the seceded States, had been seized, and were held by 
representatives of the rebel government. The only forts 
in the South which remained in possession of the Union 
were Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson on the Florida 
coast, and Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and prepa- 
rations were far advanced for the reduction and capture 
of these. Officers of the army and navy from the South 
had resigned their commissions and entered the rebel 
service. Civil officers representing the United States 
within the limits of the Southern States could no 
longer discharge their functions, and all the powers of 
that Government were practically paralyzed. 

It was under these circumstances that Mr. Lincoln 
entered upon the duties of his office, and addressed him- 
self to the task, first, of withholding the Border States 
from joining the Confederacy, as an indispensable pre- 
liminary to the great work of quelling the rebellion and 
restoring the authority of the Constitution. 

The ceremony of inauguration took place as usual in 
front of the Capitol, and in presence of an immense mul- 
titude of spectators. A large military force was in 
attendance, under the immediate command of General 
Scott, but nothing occurred to interrupt the harmony 
of the occasion. Before taking the oath of office, Mr. 
Lincoln delivered the following 

INAUGURAL ADDRESS. 

Fellow- Citizens of the United States: — 

In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear 
before you to address you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath 
prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the 
President "before he enters on the execution of Ins office." 

I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss thoso 
matters of administration about which tbere is no special anxiety or 
excitement. 

Apprehension seems to exist, among the people of the Southern States, 
that by the accession of a Republican Administration their prope 'ty and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 163 

Choir peace and personal security are to be endangered. There lias .never 
been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most 
ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed and been open 
to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of 
him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches 
when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to inter- 
fere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe 
I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." Those 
who nominated and elected me did. so with full knowledge that I had made 
this and many similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And 
more than this, they placed in the platform for my acceptance, and as a law 
to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now 
read :— 

Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, 
and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domes- 
tic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to 
the balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our polit- 
ical fabric depend, and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force 
of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as 
among the gravest of crimes. 

I now reiterate these sentiments; and, in doing so, I only press upon 
the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is sus- 
ceptible, that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in 
anywise endangered by the now incoming Administration. I add, too, 
that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the 
laws, can be given, will be cheerfully given to all the States, when law- 
fully demanded, for whatever cause — as cheerfully to one section as to 
another. 

There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from 
service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Con- 
stitution as any other of its provisions : — 

Xo person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation 
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered 
up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by those who 
made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the inten- 
tion of the lawgiver is the law. All members. of Congress swear their 
support to the whole Constitution — to this provision as much as any other. 
To the proposition, then, that slaves, whose cases come within the terms 
of this clause, "shall be delivered up," their oaths are unanimous. Now, 
if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly 
equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good 
that unanimous oath ? 

There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be en- 
forced by National or by State authority ; but surely that difference is 



164 The Life, Public Services, and 

not a very material one. If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of 
but little consequence to him, or to others, by which authority it is done. 
And should any one, in any case, be content that his oath shall go unkept, 
on a mere unsubstantial controversy as to how it shall be kept? 

Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of lib- 
erty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so 
that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave? And might 
it not be well, at the same time, to provide by law for the enforcement 
of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of 
each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in 
the several States?" 

I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservation, and with no 
purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules. 
And while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as 
proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both 
in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts 
which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trusting to find im- 
punity in having them held to be unconstitutional. 

It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under 
our National Constitution. During that period, fifteen different and greatly 
distinguished citizens have, in succession, administered the Executive 
branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, 
and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for prece- 
dent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief constitutional term of 
four years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Fed- 
eral Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. 

I hold that, in contemplation of universal law, and of the Constitution, 
the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not ex- 
pressed, in the fundamental law of all National Governments. It is safe 
to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic 
law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provi- 
sions of our National Government, and the Union will endure forever — h 
being impossible to destroy it, except by some action not provided for in 
the instrument itself. 

Again, if the United States be not a Government proper, but an associ- 
ation of States in the nature of contract merely, can it, as a contract, be 
peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party 
to a contract may violate it — break it, so to speak ; but does it not require 
all to lawfully rescind it? 

Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition that, 
in legal contemplation, the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history 
of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. It 
was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was ma- 
tured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1770. It was 
further matured, and the faith of all the then Thirteen States expressly 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 105 

plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Con- 
federation in 1778. And, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for 
ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect 
union." 

But if destruction of the Union, by one, or by a part only, of the 
States, be lawfully possible, the Union is less perfect than before, the Con- 
stitution having lost the vital element of perpetuity. 

It follows, from these views, that no State, upon its own mere motion, 
can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances to that 
effect are legally void; and that acts of violence within any State or 
States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or 
revolutionary, according to circumstances. 

I, therefore, consider that, in view of the Constitution and the law3, 
the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as 
the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the 
Unio'i be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be 
oid 7 a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it, so far as practica- 
ble, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the 
requisite means, or, in some authoritative manner, direct the contrary. I 
trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared pur- 
pose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself. 

In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall 
be none, unless it be forced upon the National authority. The power con-- 
tided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and 
places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and im- 
posts; but beyond what may be but necessary for these objects, there will 
be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. 
Where hostility to the United States, in any interior locality, shall be so 
great and universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from hold- 
ing the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious stran- 
gers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right may 
exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the 
attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, 
I deem it better to forego, for the time, the uses of such offices. 

The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of 
the Union. So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that senso 
of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. 
The -course here indicated will be followed, unless current events and ex- 
perience shall show a modification or change to be proper, and in every 
case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised, according to cir- 
cumstances actually existing, and with a view and a hope of a peaceful 
solution of the National troubles, and the restoration of fraternal sympa- 
thies and affections. 

Tli at there are persons in one section or\another who seek to destroy 
the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither 



*/; 



1G6 The Life, Public Services, and 

affirm nor deny; Imt if there be such, I need address no word to them. 
To those, however, who really love the Union, may I not speak? 

Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our 
National fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, would it 
not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it? Will you hazard so des- 
perate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you 
fly from have no real existence? Will you, while the certain ills you fly 
to are greater than all the real ones you fly from — will you risk the coin- 

\ mission of so fearful a mistake? 

\J^ All profess to be content in the Union, if all constitutional rights can 
ybe maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the 
£ Constitution, has been denied? I think not. Happily the human mind 
is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. 
Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly written provision 
of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of num- 
bers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written consti- 
tutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolution — 
certainly would if such right were a vital one. But such is not our case. 
All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured 
to them by affirmations and negations, guarantees and prohibitions in the 
Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. But no 
organic law can ever be framed with a provision specifically applicable to 
every question which may occur in practical administration. No fore- 
Bight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length contain, ex- 
press provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be 
surrendered by National or by State authority? The Constitution does 
not expressly say. May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories ? The 
Constitution does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in 
the Territories? The Constitution does not expressly say. 

From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies, 
and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority 
will not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Government must cease. 
There is no other alternative; for continuing the Government is acquies- 
cence on one side or the other. If a minority in such case will secede 
rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent which, in turn, will divide 
and ruin them; for a minority of their own will secede from them when- 
ever a majority refuses to be controlled by such minority. For instance, 
why may not any portion of a new Confederacy, a year or two hence, 
arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now 
claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now 
being educated to the exact temper of doing this. 

Is there such perfect identity of interests among the States to com- 
pose a new Union, as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed 
secession? • 

Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. A 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. 1G7 

majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and 
always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and 
sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects 
it, does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or to despotism. Unanimity is im- 
possible; the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly 
inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despot- 
ism, in some form, is all that is left. 

' I do not forget the position assumed by some, that constitutional ques- 
tions are to be decided by the Supreme Court; nor do I deny that such 
decisions must be binding, in any case, upon the parties to a suit, as to 
the object of that suit, while they are also entitled to very high respect 
and consideration in all parallel cases, by all other departments of the 
Government. And while it is obviously possible that such decisions may 
be erroneous in any given case, still, the evil effect following it being 
limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled, 
and never become a precedent*for other cases, can better be borne than 
could the evils of a different practice. At the same timc/Vhe candid 
citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government upon vital 
questions affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by de- 
cisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made in ordinary 
litigation between parties in personal actions, the people will have ceased 
to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their 
Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. 

Nor is there in this view any assault upon the Court or the Judges. 
It is a duty from which they may not shrink to decide cases properly 
brought before them, and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn 
their decisions to political purposes. One section of our country believes 
slavery is right, and ought to be extended, wdiile the other believes it is 
wrong, and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dis- 
pute. The fugitive slave clause of the Constitution, and the law for the 
suppression of the foreign slave-trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, 
as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the 
people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people 
abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in 
each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured ; and it would be worse, 
in both cases, after the separation of the sections than before. The 
foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately 
revived, without restriction, in one section; while fugitive slaves, now 
only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other. 

Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our re- 
spective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between 
them. A husband and wife may bo divorced, and go out of the presence 
and beyond the reach of each other; but the different parts of our coun- 
try cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face ; and inter- 
course, either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. It is 



P 



* 






168 The Life, Public Services, and 

impossible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or moro 
satisfactory after separation than before. Can aliens make treaties easier 
than friends can make laws? Can treaties he more faithfully enforced 
between aliens than laws can. among friends? Suppose you go to war, 
you cannot fight always; and when, after much loss on both sides, and 
no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical old questions, as to 
terms of intercourse, are again upon you. 

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit 
it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they 
can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolu- 
tionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the 
fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the 
National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of 
amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over 
the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in 
the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor, 
rather than oppose, a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act 
upon it. I will venture to add, that to me the convention mode seems 
preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people 
themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject proposi- 
tions originated by others, not especially chosen for the purpose, and 
which might not be precisely such as they would wish to either accept or 
refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution — which 
amendment, however, I have not seen — has passed Congress, to the effect 
that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic insti- 
tutions of the States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid 
misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to 
speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a pro- 
vision now to be implied constitutional law, I have no objections to its 
being made express and irrevocable. 

The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they 
have conferred none upon him to fix terms for the separation of the States. 
The people themselves can do this also if they choose; but the Executive, 
as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to administer the present 
Government as it came to his hands, and to transmit it, unimpaired by 
him, to his successor. 

Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of 
the people? Is there any better or equal hope in the world? In our 
present differences, is either party without faith of being in the right ? 
If the Almighty Ruler of Nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be 
on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that 
1 justice will surely prevail, by the judgment of this great tribunal of the 
American people. , 

"* By the frame of the Government under which we live, the same people 
have wisely given their public servants but little power for mischief, and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 1G9 

have, with equal wisdom, provided for the return of that little to their 
own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue 
and vigilance, no Administration, hy any extreme of wickedness or folly, 
can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four 
years. 

My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this whole 
subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. If there be an 
object to hurry any of you in hot haste to a step which you would never 
take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time ; but no 
good object can be frustrated by it. Such of you as are now dissatisfied, 
still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, 
the laws of your own framing under it; while the new Administration 
will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. If it were 
admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, 
there still is no single good reason for precipitate action. Intelligence, 
patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet 
forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, 
all our present difficulty. 

In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and net in mine, is 
the momentous issues of civil war. The Government will not assail you. 

You can have no conflict without being yourselves' the aggressors. 
You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government ; 
while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and de- 
fend " it, 

I am loth to close. "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be 

enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds 

of affection, 

j-/~ The mystic cord of memory, stretching from every battle-field and 

f ~ patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad 

land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as 

\ surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. 






The declarations of the Inaugural, as a general thing, 
gave satisfaction to the loyal people of the whole coun- 
try. It was seen, everywhere, that while President Lin- 
coln felt constrained, by the most solemn obligations 
of duty, to maintain the authority of the Government of 
the United States over all the territory within its juris- 
diction, whenever that authority should be disputed by 
the actual exercise of armed force, he would nevertheless 
do nothing whatever to provoke such a demonstration, 
and would take no step which could look like violence or 
oil* snsive warfare upon the seceded States. In the Border 
States its reception was in the main satisfactory. But, as 



170 The Life, Public Services, and 



a matter of course, in those States, as elsewhere through- 
out the South, the secession leaders gave it the most 
hostile construction. No effort was spared to inflame the 
public mind, by representing the Inaugural as embodying 
the purpose of the President to make war upon the 
Southern States for their attempt to secure a redress of 
wrongs. 

The President's first act was to construct his Cabinet, 
which was done by the appointment of William II. Sew- 
ard, of New York, Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase, 
of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury ; Simon Cameron, of 
Pennsylvania, Secretary of War ; Gideon Welles, of Con • 
nectieut, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith, of In- 
diana, Secretary of the Interior ; Montgomery Blair, of 
Maryland, Postmaster-General ; and Edward Bates, of 
Missouri, Attorney-General. These nominations were all 
confirmed by the Senate, and these gentlemen entered 
upon the discharge of the duties of their several offices. 

On the 12th of March, Messrs. John Forsyth, of Ala- 
bama, and Crawford, of Georgia, requested an unofficial 
interview with the Secretary of State, which the latter 
declined. On the 13th they sent to him a communication, 
informing him that they were in Washington as commis- 
sioners from a government composed of seven States 
which had withdrawn from the American Union, and that 
the}' desired to enter upon .negotiations for the adjustment 
of all questions growing out of this separation. Mr. Sew- 
ard, -by direction of the President, declined to receive 
them, because it "could not be admitted that the States 
referred to had, in law or fact, withdrawn from the Fed- 
eral Union, or that they could do so in any other manner 
than with the consent and concert of the people of the 
United States, to be given through a National Convention, 
to be assembled in conformity with the provisions of the 
Constitution of the United States." This communication, 
though written on the loth of March, was withheld, with 
the consent of the Commissioners, until the Sth of April, 
when it was delivered. The fact of its receipt, and its 
character, were instantly telegraphed to Charleston, and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 171 

it was made the occasion for precipitating the revolution 
by an act which, it was "believed, would unite all the 
Southern States in support of the Confederacy. On the 
day of its receipt, the 8th of April, General Beauregard, 
at Charleston, telegraphed to L. P. Walker, the rebel 
Secretary of War, at Montgomery, that "an authorized 
messenger from President Lincoln had just informed Gov- 
ernor Pickens and himself that provisions would be sent 
to Fort Sumter peaceably, or, otherwise, by force." Gen- 
eral Beauregard was instructed to demand the surrender 
of the fort, which he did on the 11th, and was at once in- 
formed by Major Anderson, who was in command, that 
his " sense of honor and his obligations to his Government 
prevented his compliance." On the night of the same day 
General Beauregard wrote to Major Anderson, by orders 
of his Government, that if he "would state the time at 
which he would evacuate Fort Sumter" (as it was known 
that it must soon be evacuated for lack of provisions), 
"and will agree that, in the mean time, you will not use 
your guns against us unless ours shall be employed 
against Fort Sumter, we will abstain from opening fire 
upon you." At half-past two in the morning of the 12th, 
Major Anderson replied that he would evacuate the fort 
by noon on the 15th, abidiug, meantime, by the terms 
proposed, unless he should "receive, prior to that, control 
ling instructions from his Government, or additional sup- 
plies." In reply to this note he was notified, at half-past 
three, that the rebels would open their batteries upon the 
fort in one hour from that time. This they did, and, after 
a bombardment of thirty -three hours, Major Anderson 
agreed to evacuate the fort, which he carried into effect 
on Sunday morning, the 14th. 

The effect of this open act of war was, in some respects, 
precisely what had been anticipated by the rebel authori- 
ties : in other respects, it was very different. Upon the 
Southern States it had the effect of arousing public senti- 
ment to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and of strength- 
ening the rebel cause. At the North, it broke down, 
for the moment, all part}' distinctions, and united the 



.172 The Life, Public Services, axd 

people in a cordial and hearty support of the Govern- 
ment. 

The President regarded it as an armed attack upon the 
Government of the United States, in support of the com- 
bination which had been organized into a Confederacy to 
resist and destroy its authority, and he' saw, at once, that 
it could be met and defeated only by the force placed in 
his hands for the maintenance of that authority. He 
accordingly, on the 15th of April, issued the following 



PROCLAMATION. 
By the President of the United States. 

Whereas, the laws of the United States have been for some time past 
and now are opposed, and the execution thereof obstructed, in the Slates 
of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Texas, by combinations too powerful to bo suppressed by the ordinary 
course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals 
bylaw: now, therefore, I, Abeaiiam: Lincoln", President of the United 
States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the 
laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia 
of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy- 
five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the 
laws to be duly executed. 

The details for this object will be immediately communicated to the 
State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal 
citizens to favor, facilitate, and aid this effort to maintain the honor, the 
integrity, and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of 
popular government, and to redress wrongs already long enough endured. 
I deem it proper to say that the first service assigned to the forces hereby 
called forth will probably be to repossess the forts, places, and property 
which have been seized from the Union; and in every event the utmost 
care will be ohserved, consistently with the objects aforesaid, to avoid 
any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property, or any 
disturbance of peaceful citizens of any part of the country; and I hereby 
command the persons composing the combinations aforesaid to disperse 
and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within twenty days from 
this date. 

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extra- 
ordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by 
the Constitution, convene both houses of Congress. The Senators and 
Representatives are, therefore, summoned to assemble at their respective 
chambers, at twelve o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth. day of July 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 173 

next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their 
wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal 
of the United States to he affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this fifteenth day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the 
independence of the United States the eighty -fifth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President. 
"William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

The issue of tins Proclamation created the most intense 
enthusiasm throughout the country. Scarcely a voice 
was raised in any of the Northern States against this 
measure, which was seen to be one of absolute necessity 
and of self-defence on the part of the Government. 
Every Northern State responded promptly to the Presi- 
dent's demand, and from private persons, as well as by 
the legislatures, men, arms, and mone}'' were offered, in 
unstinted profusion and with the most zealous alacrity, 
in support of the Government. Massachusetts was first 
in the field ; and on the first day after the issue of the 
Proclamation, her Sixth Regiment, completely equipped, 
started from Boston for the National Capital. Two more 
regiments were also made ready, and took their departure 
within forty-eight hours. The Sixth Regiment, on its 
way to Washington, on the 19th, vras attacked by a mob 
in Baltimore, carrying a secession flag, and several of its 
members were killed or severehy wounded. This inflamed 
to a still higher point the excitement which already per- 
vaded the country. The whole Northern section of the 
Union felt outraged that troops should be assailed and 
murdered on their way to protect the Capital of the Na- 
tion. In Maryland, where the Secession party was 
strong, there was also great excitement, and the Governor 
of the State and the Mayor of Baltimore united in urging 
for prudential reasons, that no more troops should be 
brought through that city. To their representation the 
President made the following reply : — 



174 The Life, Public Services, and 

Washington, April 29. 1861. 
Governor Hicks and Mayor Brown : 

Gentlemen : — Your letter by Messrs. Bond, Dobbin, and Brune is re- 
ceived. I tender you both my sincere thanks for your efforts to keep the 
peace in the trying situation in which you are placed. 

For the future, troops must be brought here, but I make no point of 
bringing them through Baltimore. Without any military knowledge my- 
self, of course I must leave details to General Scott. He hastily said this 
morning in the presence of these gentlemen, "March them around Balti- 
more, and not through it." I sincerely hope the General, on fuller reflec- 
tion, will consider this practical and proper, and that you will not object 
to it. By this a collision of the people of Baltimore with the troops will 
be avoided, unless they go out of their way to seek it. I hope you will 
exert your influence to prevent this. 

Now and ever I shall do all in my power for peace consistently with 
the maintenance of the Government. 

Your obedient servant, Abraham Lincoln. 

And in further response to the same request from. Gov- 
ernor Hicks, followed by a suggestion that the contro- 
versy between the North and South might be referred to 
Lord Lyons, the British Minister, for arbitration, Presi- 
dent Lincoln, through the Secretary of State, made the 
following reply : — 

Departmknt of State, April 22, 1SG1. 

LTis Excellency Thomas IT. Hicks, Governor of Maryland : 

Sir: — I have had the honor to receive your communication of this 
morning, in which you inform me that you have felt it to be your duty 
to advise the President of the United States to order elsewhere the troops 
then off Annapolis, and also that no more may be sent through Maryland ; 
and that you have further suggested that Lord Lyons be requested to act 
as mediator between the contending parties in our country, to prevent 
the effusion of blood. 

The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of that communi- 
cation, and to assure you that he has weighed the counsels it contains 
with the respect which he habitually cherishes for the Chief Magistrates 
of the several States, and especially for yourself. He regrets, as deeply 
as any magistrate or citizen of this country can, that demonstrations 
against the safety of the United States, with very extensive preparations 
for the effusion of blood, have made it his duty to call out the forces to 
which you allude. 

The force now sought to be brought through Maryland is intended for 
nothing but the defence of the Capital. The President has necessarily 
conlided the choice of the National highway which that force shall take 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 175 

in coming to this city to the Lieutenant- General commanding the Army 
of the United States, "who, like his only predecessor, is not less distin- 
guished for his humanity than for his loyalty, patriotism, and distin- 
guished public service. 

The President instructs me to add, that the National highway thus 
selected by the Lieutenant-General has been chosen by him upon consul- 
tation with prominent magistrates and citizens of Maryland as the oue 
which, while a route is absolutely necessary, is farthest removed from the 
populous cities of the State, and with the expectation that it would there- 
fore be the least objectionable one. 

The President cannot but remember that there has been a time in the 
history of our country when a general of the American Union, with forces 
designed for the defence of its Capital, was not unwelcome anywhere in 
the State of Maryland, and certainly not at Annapolis, then, as now, the 
capital of that patriotic State, and then, also, one of the capitals of the 
Union. 

If eighty years could have obliterated all the other noble sentiments of 
that age in Maryland, the President would be hopeful, nevertheless, that 
there is one that would forever remain there and everywhere. That sen- 
timent is, that no domestic contention whatever that may arise among the 
parties of tins Republic ought in any ease to be referred to any foreign 
arbitrament, least of all to the arbitrament of a European monarchy. 

I have the honor to be, with distinguished consideration, your Excel- 
lency's obedient servant, William II. Seward. 

At the President's request, the Mayor of Baltimore, and 
a number of leading influential citizens of Maryland, 
waited upon liim at Washington, and had an open con- 
ference upon the condition of affairs in that State. The 
Mayor subsequently made the following report of the in- 
terview : — 

The President, upon his part, recognized the good faith of the city and 
State authorities, and insisted upon his own. He admitted the excited 
state of feeling in Baltimore, and his desire and duty to avoid the fatal 
consequences of a collision with the people. lie urged, on the other 
hand, the absolute, irresistible necessity of having a transit through the 
State for such troops as might be necessary for the protection of the 
Federal Capital. The protection of Washington, he asseverated with great 
earnestness, was the sole object of concentrating troops there ; and lie 
protested that none of the troops brought through Maryland were in- 
tended for any purposes hostile to the State, or aggressive as against the 
Southern States. Being now unable to bring them up the Potomac in 
security, the Government must either bring them through Maryland or 
abandon the Capital. 



176 The Life, Public Services, and 

He called on General Scott for his opinion, which the General gave at 
length, to the effect that troops might he brought through Maryland, 
without going through Baltimore, by either carrying them from Perrys- 
ville to Annapolis, and thence by rail to Washington, or by bringing them 
to the Relay House on the Northern Central Railroad, and marching them 
'>f to the Relay Tlouse on the Washington Railroad, and thence by rail to *■ 

the Capital. If the people would permit them to go by either of those 
routes uninterruptedly, the necessity of their passing through Baltimore 
would be avoided. If the people would not permit them a transit thus 
remote from the city, they must select their own best route, and, if need 
be, fight their way through Baltimore — a result which the General ear- 
nestly deprecated. 

The President expressed his hearty concurrence in the desire to avoid 
a collision, and said that no more troops should be ordered through Balti- 
more, if they were permitted to go uninterruptedly by either of the other 
routes suggested. In this disposition the Secretary of War expressed his 
participation. 

Mayor Brown assured the President that the city authorities would use 
all lawful means to prevent their citizens from leaving Baltimore to attack 
the troops in passing at a distance ; but he urged, at the same time, the 
impossibility of their being able to promise any thing more than their 
best efforts in that direction. The excitement was great, he told the 
President; the people of all classes were fully aroused, and it was impos- 
sible for any one to answer for the consequences of the presence of North- 
ern troops anywhere within our borders. He reminded the President, 
also, that the jurisdiction of the city authorities was confined to their own 
population, and that he could give no promises for the people elsewhere, 
because he would be unable to keep them if given. The President frankly 
acknowledged this difficulty, and said that the Government would only 
ask the city authorities to use their best efforts with respect to those 
under their jurisdiction. 

The interview terminated with the distinct assurance, on the part of 
the President, that no more troops would be sent through Baltimore un- 
less obstructed in their transit in other directions, and with the under- 
standing that the city authorities should do their best to restrain their 
own people. 

Iii accordance witli this understanding, troops were for- 
warded to Washington by way of Annapolis, until peace 
and order were restored in Baltimore, when the regular 
use of the highway through that city was resumed, and 
has been continued without interruption to the present 
time. 

On the 19th of April the President issued the following 
proclamation, blockading the ports of the seceded States: — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 1V7 

A PROCLAMATION", 
By the President of the Unitted States. 

Whereas, An insurrection against the Government of the United States 
has broken out in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Flor- 
ida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and the laws of the United States 
for the collection of the revenue cannot be efficiently executed therein 
conformable to that provision of the Constitution which required duties 
to be uniform throughout the United States : — 

And whereas, A combination of persons, engaged in such insurrection, 
have threatened to grant pretended letters of marque, to authorize the 
bearers thereof to commit assaults on the lives, vessels, and property of 
the good citizens of the country, lawfully engaged in commerce on the 
high seas, and in waters of the United States : — 

And whereas, An Executive Proclamation has been already issued, re- 
quiring the persons engaged in these disorderly proceedings to desist 
therefrom, calling out a militia force for the purpose of repressing the 
same, and convening Congress in extraordinary session to deliberate and 
determine thereon : — 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
with a view to the same purposes before mentioned, and to the protec- 
tion of the public peace, and the lives and property of quiet and orderly 
citizens pursuing their lawful occupations, until Congress shall havo 
assembled and deliberated on the said unlawful proceedings, or until tho 
same shall have ceased,' have further deemed it advisable to set on foot a 
blockade of the ports within the States aforesaid, in pursuance of tho 
laws of the United States and of the laws of nations in such cases pro- 
vided. For this purpose a competent force will be posted, so as to pre- 
vent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports aforesaid. If, therefore, 
with a view to violate such blockade, a vessel shall approach, or shall 
attempt to leave any of the said ports, she will be duly warned by the 
commander of one of the blockading vessels, who will indorse on her 
register the fact and date of such warning; and if the same vessel shall 
again attempt to enter or leave the blockaded port, she will be captured 
and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her 
and her cargo as prize as may be deemed advisable. 

And I hereby proclaim and declare, that if any person, under the pic- 
tended authority of such States, or under any other pretence, shall molest 
a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, 
snclt persons will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for 
the prevention and punishment of piracy. 

By the President. Abraham Lincoln. 

William TT. Seward, Secretary of State, 

Washington, April 19, 1SG1. 
12 



178 The Life, Public Services, and 

These were the initial steps "by which the Government 
sought to repel the attempt of the rebel Confederacy to 
overthrow its authority by force of arms. Its action waa 
at that time wholly defensive. The declarations of rebel 
officials, as well as the language of the Southern press, 
indicated very clearly their intention to push the war 
begun at Sumter into the North. Jefferson Davis had 
Himself declared, more than a month previous, that when- 
ever the war should open, the North and not the South 
should be the field of battle. At a popular demonstration 
held at Montgomery, Ala., on hearing that lire had been 
opened upon Sumter, L. P. Walker, the rebel Secretary 
of War, had said, that while "no man could tell where 
the war would end, he would prophesy that the flag 
which now flaunts the breeze here, would float over the 
dome of the old Capitol at Washington before the first of 
May," and that it "might float eventually over Faneul 
Hall itself." The rebel Government had gone forward 
with great vigor to prepare the means for making good 
these predictions. Volunteers were summoned to the 
field. Besides garrisoning the fortresses in their posses- 
sion along the Southern coast, a force of nearly twenty 
thousand men was pushed rapidly forward to Virginia. 
A loan of eight millions of dollars was raised, and Davis 
issued a proclamation offering letters of marque to all per- 
sons who might desire to aid the rebel Government and 
enrich themselves by depredations upon the rich and ex- 
tended commerce of the United States. The South thus 
plunged openly and boldly into a war of aggression : and 
the President, in strict conformity with the declaration of his 
Inaugural, put the Government upon the defensive, and 
limited the military operations of the moment to the pro- 
tection of the Capital. 

The effect of these preliminary movements upon the 
Border Slave States was very decided. The assault upon 
Sumter greatly excited the public mind throughout those 
States. In Virginia it was made to inure to the benefit of the 
rebels. The State Convention, which had been in session 
since the 13th of February, was composed of a hundred 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 179 

and fifty-two delegates, a large majority of whom were 
Union men. The Inaugural of President Lincoln had 
created a good deal of excitement among the members, 
a-nd a very animated contest had followed as to its proper 
meaning. The secessionists insisted that it announced a 
policy of coercion towards the South, and had seized the 
occasion to urge the immediate passage of an ordinance of 
secession. This gave rise to a stormy debate, in which 
the friends of the Union maintained their ascendency. 
The news of the attack upon Sumter created a whirlwind 
of excitement, which checked somewhat the Union move- 
ment ; and, on the 13th of April, Messrs. Preston, Stuart, 
and Randolph, who had been sent to Washington to as- 
certain the President's intentions towards the South, sent 
in their report, which was received just after Governor 
Pickens, of South Carolina, had announced the attack 
upon Sumter, and had demanded to know what Virginia 
intended to do in the war they had just commenced, and 
in which they were determined to triumph or perish. 
The Commissioners reported that the President had madf> 
the following reply to their inquiries : — 

To Hon. Messrs. Preston, Stuart and Randolph : 

Gentlemen : — As a committee of the Virginia Convention, now in ses- 
sion, you present me a preamble and resolution in these words: — 

Whereas, In the opinion of this Convention, the uncertainty which pre- 
vails in the public mind as to the policy which the Federal Executive in- 
tends to pursue towards the seceded States, is extremely injurious to the 
industrial and commercial interests of the country, tends to keep up an 
excitement which is unfavorable to the adjustment of the pending - diffi- 
culties, and threatens a disturbance of the public peace : — Therefore, 

Resolved, That a committee of three delegates be appointed to wait on 
the President of the United States, present to him this preamble, and re- 
spectfully ask him to communicate to this Convention the policy which 
the Federal Executive intends to pursue in regard to the Confederate 
States. 

In answer I have to say, that having, at the beginning of my official 
term, expressed my intended policy as plainly as I was able, it is with 
deep regret and mortification I now learn there is great and injurious un- 
certainty in the public mind as to what that policy is, and what course I 
intend to pursue. Not having as yet seen occasion to change, it is now 
my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the Inaugural Address. 
I Commend a careful consideration of the whole document as the best ex- 



ISO The Life, Public Services, and 

pression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said, I now 
repeat, " The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and pos- 
sess property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the 
duties and imposts ; but beyond what i3 necessary for these objects there 
will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people any- 
where." By the words "property and places belonging to the (iovern- 
ment," I chiefiy allude to the military posts and property which were in 
possession of the Government when it came into my hands. But if, as 
now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive the United States 
authority from these places, an unprovoked assault has been made upon 
Fort Sumter, I shall hold myself at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like 
places which had been seized before the Government was devolved upon 
me; and in any event I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by 
force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been assaulted, as is 
reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United States mails to be withdrawn 
from all the States which claim to have seceded, believing that the com- 
mencement of actual war against the Government justifies and possibly 
demands it. I scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and 
property situated within the States which claim to have seceded, as yet 
belonging to the Government of the United States as much as they did 
before the supposed secession. Whatever else I may do for the purpose, 
I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed inva- 
sion of any part of the country; not meaning by this, however, that I 
may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fort upon the border 
of the country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of the Inaugural 
Address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any other part, the 
whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what' I now say of the mails 
may be regarded as a modification. 

ABEAnAM Lincoln. 



On the 17th, two days after this report was presented, 
and immediately after receiving the President's procla- 
mation calling for troops, the Convention passed an ordi • 
nance of secession by a vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five ; 
and Virginia, "being thus the most advanced member of the 
rebel Confederacy, became the battle-field of all the earlier 
contests which ensued, and on the 21st of May the capital 
of the rebel Government was transferred to Richmond. 
Very strenuous efforts were made by the rebel authori- 
ties to secure the adhesion of Maryland, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, and Missouri to the Confederacy ; but the wise 
forbearance of the President in his earlier measures had 
checked these endeavors, and held all those States but 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 181 

Tennessee aloof from active participation in tlie secession 
movement. 

The months of May and June were devoted to the most 
active and vigorous preparations on "both sides for the 
contest which was seen to Ibe inevitable. Over a hundred 
thousand troops had "been raised and organized in the 
rebel States, and the great mass of them had been pushed 
forward towards the Northern border. On the 20th of 
April, the Government of the United States seized all the 
dispatches which had accumulated in the telegraph offices 
during the preceding year, for the purpose of detecting 
movements in aid of the rebel conspiracy. On the 27th 
of April the blockade of rebel ports was extended by 
proclamation to the ports of North Carolina and Virginia. 
On the 3d of May the President issued a proclamation 
calling into the service of the United States forty-tw< 
thousand and thirty-four volunteers for three years, ana 
ordering an addition of twenty-two thousand one hundred 
and fourteen officers and men to the regular army, and 
eighteen thousand seamen to the navy. And on the 10th, 
by another proclamation, he directed the commander of 
the United States forces in Florida to "permit no person 
to exercise any office or authority upon the islands of 
Key West, Tortugas, and Santa Rosa, which may be in- 
consistent with the laws and Constitution of the United 
States ; authorizing him, at the same time, if he shall find 
it necessary, to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and to 
remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses 
all dangerous and suspected persons." 

One of the first duties of the new Administration was 
to define the position to be taken by the Government of 
the United States towards foreign nations in view of the 
rebellion. While it is impossible to enter here upon this 
very wide branch of the general subject at any consid- 
erable length, this history would be incomplete if it did 
not state, in official language, the attitude which the Presi- 
dent decided to assume. That is very distinctly set forth 
in the letter of instructions prepared by the Secretary of 
Stale for Mr. Adams, on the eve of his departure for 



182 The Life, Public Services, and 

tlje court of St. James, and dated April 10, in the 
following terms : — 

Before considering the arguments you are to use, it is important to in- 
dicate those which you are not to employ in executing that mission : — 

First. The President has noticed, as the whole American people have, 
with much emotion, the expressions of good-will and friendship towards 
the United States, and of concern for their present embarrassments, which 
have been made on apt occasions, by her Majesty and her ministers. You 
will make due acknowledgment for these manifestations, but at the same 
time you will not rely on any mere sympathies or national kindness. You 
will make no admissions of weakness in our Constitution, or of apprehen- 
sion on the part of the Government. You will rather prove, as you easily 
can, by comparing the history of our country with that of other States, 
that its Constitution and Government are really the strongest and surest 
which have ever been erected for the safety of any people. You will in no 
case listen to any suggestions of compromise by this Government, under 
foreign auspices, with its discontented citizens. If, as the President does 
not at all apprehend, you shall unhappily find her Majesty's Government 
tolerating the application of the so-called seceding States, or wavering 
about it, you will not leave them to suppose for a moment that they can 
grant that application and remain the friends of the United States. You 
may even assure them promptly, in that case, that if they determine to rec- 
ognize, they may at the same time prepare to enter into alliance with the 
enemies of this Republic. You alono will represent your country at Lon- 
don, and you will represent the whole of it there. AVhen you are asked 
to divide that duty with others, diplomatic relations between the Govern- 
ment of Great Britain and this Government will be suspended, and will 
remain so until it shall be seen which of the two is most strongly in- 
trenched in the confidence of their respective nations and of mankind. 

You will not be allowed, however, even if you were disposed, as the 
President is sure you will not be, to rest your opposition to the applica- 
tion of the Confederate States on the ground of any favor this Adminis- 
tration, or the party which chiefly called it into existence, proposes to 
show to Great Britain, or claims that Great Britain ought to show them. 
You will not consent to draw into debate before the British Government 
any opposing moral principles which may be supposed to lie at the 
foundation of the controversy between those States and the Federal 
Union. 

You will indulge in no expressions of harshness or disrespect, or even 
impalieuce, concerning the seceding States, their agents, or their people. 
But you will, on the contrary, all the while remember that those States 
are now, as they always heretofore have been, and, notwithstanding their 
temporary self-delusion, they must always continue to be, equal and 
honored members of this Federal Union, and that their citizens through- 
out all political misunderstandings and alienations still are and always 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 183 

mast be our kindred and countrymen. In short, all your arguments must 
belong to one of three classes, namely: First. Arguments drawn from 
the principles of public law and natural justice, .which regulate the inter- 
course of equal States. Secondly. Arguments which concern equally the 
honor, welfare, and happiness of the discontented States, and the honor, 
welfare, and happiness of the whole Union. Thirdly. Arguments which 
are equally conservative of the rights and interests, and even sentiments 
of the United States, and just in their bearing upon the rights, interests, 
and sentiments of Great Britain and all other nations. 

Just previous to the arrival of Mr. Adams at his post, 
the British Government determined, acting in concert 
with that of France, to recognize the rebels as a bellige- 
rent power. Against this recognition our Government 
directed Mr. Adams to make a decided and energetic pro- 
test. On the fifteenth of June the British and French 
Ministers at Washington requested an interview with the 
Secretary of State for the purpose of reading to him cer- 
tain instructions they had received on this subject from 
their respective governments. Mr. Seward declined to 
hear them officially until he knew the nature of the docu- 
ment, which was accordingly left with him for perusal, 
and he afterwards declined altogether to hear it read, 01 
receive official notice of it. In a letter to Mr. Adams, oil 
the 19th, he thus states its character and contents : — 

That paper purports to contain a decision at which the British Govern- 
ment has arrived, to the effect that this country is divided into two 
belligerent parties, of which the Government represents one, and thai 
Great Britain assumes the attitude of a neutral between them. 

This Government could not, consistently with a just regard for the sov- 
ereignty of the United States, permit itself to debate these novel and 
extraordinary positions with the Government of her Britannic Majesty; 
much less can we consent that that Government shall announce to us a 
deeision derogating from that sovereignty, at which it has arrived with- 
out previously conferring with us upon the question. The United States 
are still solely and exclusively sovereign within the territories they have 
lawfully acquired and long possessed, as they have always been. Thoy 
are at peace with all the world, as, with unimportant exceptions, they have 
always been. They are living under the obligations of the law of nations, 
and of treaties with Great Britain, just the same now as heretofore; they 
are, of course, the friend of Great Britain, and they insist that Great Britain 
shall remain their friend now, just as she has hitherto been. Great Britain, 
by virtue of these relations, is a stranger to parties and sections in this 



184 The Life, Public Services, and 

country, whether they are loyal to the United States or not, and Great 
Britain can neither rightfully qualify the sovereignty of the United States. 
nor concede, nor recognize any rights or interests or power of any party* 
State, or section, in contravention to the unbroken sovereignty of the Fed- 
eral Union. What is now seen in this country is the occurrence, by no 
means peculiar, but frequent in all countries — more frequent even in Great 
Britain than here — of an armed insurrection engaged in attempting to 
overthrow the regularly constituted and established Government. There 
is, of course, the employment of force by the Government to suppress 
the insurrection, as every other government necessarily employs force in 
such cases. But these incidents by no means constitute a state of war 
impairing the sovereignty of the Government, creating belligerent sec- 
tions, and entitling foreign States to intervene, or to act as neutrals 
between them, or in any other way to cast off their lawful obligations to 
the nation thus for the moment disturbed. Any other principle than 
thi3 would be to resolve government everywhere into a thing of accident 
and caprice, and ultimately all human society into a state of perpetual 
war. 

"We do not go into any argument of fact or of law in support of the 
positions we have thus assumed. They are simply the suggestions of the 
instinct of self-defence, the primary law of human action — not more the 
law of individual than of National life. 

Similar views were presented for the consideration of 
the French Emperor, and, indeed, of all the foreign gov- 
ernments with which we held diplomatic intercourse. The 
action of the seceding States was treated as rebellion, 
purely domestic in its character, upon the nature or 
merits of which it would be unbecoming in us to hold 
any discussion with any foreign Power. The President 
pressed upon all those governments the duty of accepting 
this view of the question, and of abstaining, consequently, 
from every act which could be construed into any recog- 
nition of the rebel Confederacy, or which could embar- 
rass the Government of the United States in its endeav- 
ors to re-establish its rightful authority. Especial pains 
were taken, by the most emphatic declarations, to leave 
no doubt in the mind of any foreign statesman as to the 
purpose of the people of the United States to accomplish 
that result. "You cannot be too decided or explicit," 
was the uniform language of the Secretary, "in making 
known to the Government that there is not now, nor has 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 185 

there been, nor will there Ibe, any the least idea existing 
in this Government of suffering a dissolution of this 
Union to take place in any way whatever." Efforts were 
also made "by our Government to define, with the preci- 
sion which the novel features of the case required, the 
law of nations in regard to neutral rights, and also to 
secure a general concurrence of the maritime powers in 
the principles of the Paris Convention of 1S59 : the latter 
object was, however, thwarted by the demand made by 
both France and England, that they should not be re- 
quired to abide by these principles in their application to 
the internal conflict which was going on in the United 
States. This demand the President pronounced inadmis- 
sible. 



186 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTEE VII. 

THE EXTRA SESSI0X OP CONGRESS, AND THE MILITARY EVENTS 
OF THE SUMMER OF 1861. 

First Annual Message. — Action of Congress. — Slavery and Con- 
fiscation. — The Defeat at Bull Kun. — Treatment of the Slavery 
Question. — General Fremont and the President. — The Trent 
Affair. 

In pursuance of the President's proclamation of the 
15th of April, Congress met in extra session on the 4th 
of July, 1861. The Republicans had control of both 
houses, counting thirty-one votes out of forty-eight in 
the Senate, and one hundred and six out of one hundred 
and seventy-eight in the House ; there being, moreover, 
five in the Senate and twenty-eight in the House who, 
without belonging to the Republican party, supported 
the Administration in its efforts to preserve the Union. 
Hon. G. A. Grow was elected Speaker of the House ; 
and, on the 5th, the President communicated to Congress 
his first Annual Message, as follows : — 

Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : — 

Having been convened on an extraordinary occasion, as authorized by 
the Constitution, your attention is not called to any ordinary subject of 
legislation. 

At the beginning of the present Presidential terra, four months ago, the 
functions, of the Federal Government were found to be generally suspend- 
ed within the several States of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana, and Florida, excepting only those of. the Post-Office 
Department. 

Within these States all the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, custom-houses, 
and the like, including the movable and stationary property in and about 
them, had been seized, and were held in open hostility to this Govern- 
ment, excepting only Forts Pickens, Taylor, and Jefferson, on and near 
the Florida coast, and Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. 
The forts thus seized had been put in improved condition, new ones had 



State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 187 

been built, and armed forces bad been organized and were organizing, all 
avowedly with tbe same hostile purpose. 

The forts remaining in tbe possession of tbe Federal Government in 
and near these States were either besieged or menaced by warlike prepa- 
rations, and especially Fort Sumter was nearly surrounded by well- 
protected bostilfe batteries, with guns equal in quality to the best of its 
own, and outnumbering the latter as perhaps ten to one. A dispropor- 
tionate share of the Federal muskets and rifles had somehow found their 
way into these States, and had been seized to be used against the Govern- 
ment. Accumulations of the public revenue, lying within them, bad 
been seized for the same object. The Navy was scattered in distant seas, 
leaving but a very small part of it within the immediate roach of the 
Government. Officers of the Federal Array and Navy had resigned in 
great numbers; aud of those resigning, a large proportion had taken up 
arms against the Government. Simultaneously, and in connection with 
all this, the purpose to sever the Federal Union was openly avowed. In 
accordance with this purpose, an ordinance had been adopted in each of 
these States, declaring the States, respectively, to be separated from tbe 
National Union. A formula for instituting a combined government of 
these States had been promulgated ; and this illegal organization, in the 
character of the Confederate States, was already invoking recognition, aid, 
and intervention from foreign Powers. 

Finding this condition of things, and believing it to be an imperative 
duty upon the incoming Executive^ prevent, if possible, the consumma- 
tion of such attempt to destroy the Federal Union, a choice of means 
to that end became indispensable. This choice was made, and was de- 
clared in the Inaugural Address. The policy chosen looked to the exhaus- 
tion of all peaceful measures before a resort to any stronger ones. It 
sought only to hold the public places and property not already wrested 
from the Government, and to collect the revenue, relying for the rest on 
time, discussion, and the ballot-box. It promised a continuance of the 
mails, at Government expense, to the very people who were resisting the 
Government ; and it gave repeated pledges against any disturbance to 
auy of the people, or any of their rights. Of all that which a President 
might constitutionally aud justifiably do in such a case, every thing was 
forborne, without which it was believed possible to keep the Government 
on foot. 

On the 5th of March (the present incumbent's first full day in office), 
11 letter of Major Anderson, commanding at Fort Sumter, written on the 
28th of February, and received at the War Department on the 4th of 
March, was by that Department placed in his hands. This letter ex- 
pressed the professional opinion of the writer, that reinforcements could 
not be thrown into that fort within the time for his relief, rendered ne- 
cessary by the limited supply of provisions, and with a view of holding 
possession of the same, with a force of less than twenty thousand good 



188 The Life, Public Services, and 

and well-disciplined men. This opinion was concurred in by all the 
officers of his command, and their memoranda on the subject were made 
enclosures of Major Anderson's letter. The whole was immediately laid 
before Lieutenant-General Scott, who at once concurred with Major 
Anderson in opinion. On reflection, however, he took full time, con- 
sulting with other officers, both of the army and the navy; and at the 
end of four days came reluctantly, but decidedly, to the same conclusion 
as before. He also stated at the same time that no such sufficient force 
was then at the control of the Government, or could be raised aud 
brought to the ground within the time when the provisions in the fort 
would be exhausted. In a purely military point of view, this reduced 
the duty of the Administration in the case to the mere matter of getting 
the garrison safely out of the fort. 

It was believed, however, that to so abandon that position, under the 
circumstances, would be utterly ruinous ; that the necessity under which 
it was to be done would not be fully understood; that by many it would 
be tonstrued as a part of a voluntary policy ; that at home it would dis- 
courage the friends of the Union, embolden its adversaries, and go far to 
insure to the latter a recognition abroad ; that, in fact, it would be our 
National destruction consummated. This could not be allowed. Star- 
vation was not yet upon the garrison ; and ere it would be reached Fort 
Pickens might be re-enforced. This would be a clear indication of policy, 
and would better enable the country to accept the evacuation of Fort 
Sumter as a military necessity. An order was at once directed to be sent 
for the landing of the troops from the steamship Brooklyn into Fort 
Pickens. This order could not go by land, but must take the longer and 
slower route by sea. The first return news from the order was received 
just one week before the fall of Fort Sumter. The news itself was, that 
the officer commanding the Sabine, to which vessel the troops had been 
transferred from the Brooklyn, acting upon some quasi armistice of the 
late Administration (and of the existence of which the present Adminis- 
tration, up to the time the order was dispatched, had only too vague and 
uncertain rumors to fix attention), had refused to land the troops. To 
now re-enforce Fort Pickens before a crisis would be reached at Fort 
Sumter, Avas impossible — rendered so by the near exhaustion of provisions 
in the latter-named fort. In precaution against such a conjuncture, the 
Government had a few days before commenced preparing an expedition, 
as well adapted as might be, to relieve Fort Sumter, which expedition 
was intended to be ultimately used or not, according to circumstances. 
The strongest anticipated case for using it was now presented, and it was 
resolved 'to send it forward. As had been intended in this contingency, 
it was also resolved to notify the Governor of South Carolina that he 
might expect an attempt would be made to provision the fort ; and that, 
if the attempt should not be resisted, there would be no effort to throw 
in men, arms, or ammunition, without farther notice, or in case of an 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 189 

attack upon the fort. This notice was accordingly given ; whereupon, 
the fort was attacked and bombarded to its fall, without even awaiting 
the arrival of the provisioning expedition. 

It is thus seen that the assault upon and reduction of Fort Sumter was 
in no sense a matter of self-defence upon the part of the assailants. They 
well knew that the garrison in the fort could by no possibility commit 
aggression upon them. They knew — they were expressly notified — that 
the giving of bread to the few brave and huqgry men of the garrison 
was all which would on that occasion be attempted, unless themselves, 
by resisting so much, should provoke more. They knew that this Gov- 
ernment desired to keep the garrison in the fort, not to assail them, but 
to maintain visible possession, and thus to preserve the Union from 
actual and immediate dissolution — trusting, as hereinbefore stated, to 
time, discussion, and the ballot-box for final adjustment; and they as- 
sailed and reduced the fort for precisely the reverse object— to drive out 
the visible authority of the Federal Union, and thus force it to immediate 
dissolution. That this was their object the Executive well understood; 
and having said to them in the Inaugural Address, " You can have no 
conflict without being yourselves the aggressors," he took pains not 
only to keep this declaration good, but also to keep the case so free from 
the power of ingenious sophistry that the world should not be able to 
misunderstand it. By the affair at Fort Sumter, with its surrounding 
circumstances, that point was reached. Then and thereby the assailants 
of the Government began the conflict of arms, without a gun in sight, 
or in expectancy to return their fire, save only the few in the fort, sent 
to that harbor years before for their own protection, and still ready to 
give that protection in whatever was lawful. In this act, discarding all 
else, they have forced upon the country the distinct issue, " immediate 
dissolution or blood." 

And this issue embraces more than the fate of these United States. It 
presents to the whole family of man the question, whether a constitu- 
tional republic or democracy — a government of the people by the same 
people — can or cannot maintain its territorial integrity against its own 
domestic foes. It presents the question, whether discontented individ- 
uals, too few in numbers to control administration, according to organic 
law, in any case, can always, upon the pretences made in this case, or on 
any other pretences, or arbitrarily, without any pretence, break up their 
Government, and thus practically put an end to free government upon 
the earth. It forces lis to ask, "Is there, in all republics, this inherent 
and fatal weakness?" "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong 
for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own exist- 
ence?" 

So viewing the issue, no choice was left but to call out the war power 
of the Government; and so to resist force employed for its destruction, 
bv force for its preservation. 



190 The Life, Public Services, and 

The call was made, and the response of the country was most gratify- 
ing — surpassing in unanimity and spirit the most sanguine expectation. 
Tet none of the States commonly called Slave States, except Delaware, 
gave a regiment through regular State organization. A few regiments 
have been organized within some others of those States by individual 
enterprise, and received into the Government service. Of course, the 
seceded States, so called (and to which Texas had been joined about the 
time of the inauguration), gave no troops to the cause of the Union. 
The Border States, so called, were not uniform in their action,-some of them 
being almost for the Union, while in others — as Virginia, North Carolina, 
Tennessee, and Arkansas — the Union sentiment was nearly repressed and 
silenced. The course taken in Virginia was the most remarkable — per- 
haps the most important. A convention, elected by the people of that 
State to consider this very question of disrupting the Federal Union, 
was in session at the Capital of Virginia when Fort Sumter fell. To this 
body the people had chosen a large majority of professed Union men. 
Almost immediately after the fall of Sumter many members of that 
majority went over to the original disunion minority, and with them 
adopted an ordinance for withdrawing the State from the Union. Whether 
this change was wrought by their great approval of the assault upon 
Sumter, or their great resentment at the Government's resistance to that 
assault, is not definitely known. Although they submitted the ordinance 
for ratification to a vote of the people, to be taken on a day then" some 
what more than a month distant, the Convention and the Legislature 
(which was also in session at the same time and place), with leading 
men of the State not members of either, immediately commenced acting 
as if the State were already out of the Uuion. They pushed military 
preparations vigorously forward all over the State. They seized the 
United States armory at Harper's Ferry, and the navy-yard at Gosport, 
near Norfolk. They received — perhaps invited — into their State large 
bodies of troops, with their warlike appointments, from the so-called 
seceded States. They formally entered into a treaty of temporary alii 
ance and co-operation with the so-called "Confederate States," and sent 
members to their Congress at Montgomery; and, finally, they permitted 
the insurrectionary Government to be transferred to their capital at Rich 
mond. 

The people of Virginia have thus allowed this giant insurrection to 
make its nest within her borders; and this Government has no choice 
left but to deal with it where it finds it. And it has the less regret, as 
the loyal citizens have in due form claimed its protection. Those loyal 
citizens this Government is bound to recognize and protect as being 
Virginia. 

In the Border States, so-called — in fact, the Middle States — there are 
those who favor a policy which they call " armed neutrality" — that is, 
an arming of those States to prevent the Union forces passing one way, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 191 

or the disunion the other, over their soil. This would be disunion com- 
pleted. Figuratively speaking, it would be the building of an impassable 
wall along the line of separation — and yet not quite an impassable ODe, 
for, under the guise of neutrality, it^would tie the hands of Union men, 
and freely pass supplies from among them to the insurrectionists, which 
it could not do as an open enemy. At a stroke it would take all the 
trouble off the hands of secession, except only what proceeds from the 
external blockade. It would do for the disunionists that which of all 
things they most desire — feed them well, and give them disunion without 
a struggle of their own. It recognizes no fidelity to the Constitution, 
no obligation to maintain the Union ; and while very many who have 
favored it are doubtless loyal citizens, it is, nevertheless, very injurious 
in effect. 

Recurring to the action of the Government, it may be stated that at 
first a call was made for seventy-five thousand militia; and rapidly fol- 
lowing this, a proclamation was issued for closing the ports of the insur- 
rectionary districts by proceedings in the nature of a blockado. So far 
all was believed to be strictly legal. At this point the insurrectionists 
announced their purpose to enter upon the practice of privateering. 

Other calls were made for volunteers to serve for three years, unless 
Booner discharged, and also for large additions to the regular army and 
navy. These measures, whether strictly legal or not, were ventured upon 
under what appeared to be a popular demand and a public necessity; 
trusting then, as now, that Congress would readily ratify them. It is 
believed that nothing has been done beyond the constitutional compe- 
tency of Congress. 

Soon after the first call for militia, it was considered a duty to authorize 
the Commanding-General, in proper cases, according to his discretion; 
to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, or, in other words, 
to arrest and detain, without resort to the ordinary processes and forms 
of law, such individuals as he might deem dangerous to the public safety. 
This authority has purposely been exercised but very sparingly. Never- 
theless, the legality and propriety of what has been done under it are 
questioned, and the attention of the country has been called to the 
proposition, that one who has sworn to "take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed," should not himself violate them. Of course, some 
consideration was given to the question of power and propriety before 
this matter was acted upon. The whole of the laws which were required 
to be faithfully executed were being resisted, and failing of execution in 
nearly one-third of the States. Must they be allowed to finally fail of 
execution, even had it been perfectly clear that by the use of the means 
necessary to their execution some single law, made in such extreme 
tenderness of the citizen's liberty that practically it relieves more of the 
guilty than of the innocent, should to a very limited extent be violated ? 
To state the question more directly : Are all the laws but one to go unex- 



192 The Life, Public Services, and 

ecuted, and the Government itself go to pieces, lest that one be violated ? 
Even in such a case, would not' the official oath be broken if the Gov- 
ernment should be overthrown, when it was believed that disregarding 
the single law would tend to preserve it ? But it was not believed that 
this question was presented. It was not believed that any law was 
violated. The provision of the Constitution that " the privilege of the 
writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when, in cases of 
rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it," is equivalent to 
a provision — is a provision — that such privilege may be suspended when, 
in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety does require it. It was 
decided that we have a case of rebellion, and that the public safety does 
require the qualified suspension of the privilege of the writ which was 
authorized to be made. Now, it is insisted that Congress, and not the 
Executive, is vested with this, power. But the Constitution itself is silent 
as to which or who is to exercise the power ; and as the provision was 
plainly made for a dangerous emergency, it cannot be believed the 
framers of the instrument intended that in every case the danger should 
run its course until Congress could be called together, the very assembling 
of which might be prevented, as was intended in this case, by the re- 
bellion. 

No more extended argument is now offered, as an opinion, at some 
length, will probably be presented by the Attorney-General. Whether 
there shall he any legislation on the subject, and, if any, what, is sub- 
mitted entirely to the better judgment of Congress. 

The forbearance of this Government had been so extraordinary, and so 
long continued, as to lead some foreign nations to shape their action 
as if they supposed the early destruction of our National Union was 
probable. While this, on discovery, gave the Executive some concern, 
he is now happy to say that the sovereignty and rights of the United 
States are now everywhere practically respected by foreign powers ; and 
a general sympathy with the country is manifested throughout the 
world. 

The reports of the Secretaries of the Treasury, War, and the Navy, 
will give the information in detail deemed necessary and convenient for 
your deliberation and action ; while the Executive and all the Depart- 
ments will stand ready to supply omissions, or to communicate new facts 
considered important for you to know. 

It is now recommended that you give the legal means for making this 
contest a short and decisive one ; that you place at the control of the 
Government, for the work, at least four hundred thousand men and 
$400,000,000. That number of men is about one-tenth of those of proper 
ages within the regions where, apparently, all are willing to engage ; and 
the sum is less than a twenty-third part of the money value owned by 
the men who seem ready to devote the whole. A debt of $000,000,000 
now, is a less sum per head than Avas the debt of our Revolution when 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 193 

we came out of that struggle; and the money value in the country now 
hears even a greater proportion to what it was then, than does the popu- 
lation. Surely each man has as strong a motive now to preserve our 
liberties, as each had then to establish them. 

A right result, at this time, will be worth more to the world than ten 
times the men and ten times the money. The evidence reaching us from 
the country leaves no doubt that the material for the work is abundant, 
and that it needs only the hand of legislation to give it legal sanction, 
and the hand of the Executive to give it practical shape and efficiency. 
One of the greatest perplexities of the Government is to avoid receiving 
troops faster than it can provide for them. In a word, the people will 
save their Government, if the Government itself will do its part only 
indifferently well. 

It might seem, at first thought, to he of little difference whether th«» 
present movement at the South be called "secession" or "rebellion." 
The movers, however, will understand the difference. At the beginning, 
they knew they could never raise their treason to any respectable 
magnitude by any name which implies violation of law. They knew 
their people possessed as much of moral sense, as much of devotion to 
law and order, and as much pride in, and reverence for the history and 
Government of their common country, as any other civilized and patri- 
otic people. They knew they could make no advancement directly in the 
teeth of these strong and noble sentiments. • Accordingly, they com- 
menced by an insidious debauching of the public mind. The)' invented 
an ingenious sophism, which, if conceded, was followed by perfectly 
logical steps, through all the incidents, to the complete destruction of 
the Union. The sophism itself is, that any State of the Union may, 
consistently with the National Constitution, and therefore lawfully and 
peacefully, withdraw from the Union without the consent of the Union, 
or of any other State. The little disguise that the supposed right is to 
he exercised only for just cause, themselves to be the sole judges of its 
justice, is too thin to merit any notice. 

With rebellion thus sugar-coated they have been drugging the public 
mind of their seetion for more than thirty years, and until at length they 
have brought many good men to a willingness to take up arms against 
the Government the day after some assemblage of men have enacted the 
farcical pretence of taking their State out of the Union, who could have 
been brought to no such thing the day before. 

This suphism derives much, perhaps the whole, of its currency from 
the assumption that there is some omnipotent and sacred supremacy 
pertaining to a State — to each State of our Federal Union. Our States 
have neither more nor less power than that reserved to them in the 
Union by the Constitution — no one of them ever having been a State out 
of the Union. The original ones passed into the Union even before they 
cast off their British colonial dependence; and the new ones each came 
13 



194 The Life, Public Services, and 

into the Union directly from a condition of dependence, excepting Texas. 
And even Texas, in its temporary independence, was never designated a 
State. The new ones only took the designation of States on coming into 
the Union, while that name was first adopted by the old ones in and l>y 
tne Declaration of Independence. Therein the ''United Colonies" were 
declared to be "free and independent States;" but, even then, the ob- 
ject plainly was not to declare their independence of one 1 another, or of 
the Union, but directly the contrary; as their mutual pledge and their 
mutual action before, at the time, and afterwards, abundantly show. The 
express plighting of faith by each and all of the original thirteen in the 
Articles of Confederation, two years later, that the Union shall be per- 
petual, is most conclusive. Having never been States, either in substance 
or in name, outside of the Union, whence this magical omnipotence of 
"State Rights," asserting a claim of power to lawfully destroy the Union 
itself? Much is said about the "sovereignty" of the States; but the 
word even is not in the National Constitution; nor, as is believed, in any 
of the State constitutions. What is "sovereignty" in the political sense 
of the term? Would it be far wrong to define it "a political community 
without a political superior?" Tested by this, no one of our States, ex- 
cept Texas, ever was a sovereignty. And even Texas gave up the char- 
acter on coming into the Union ; by which act she acknowledged the 
Constitution of the United States, and the laws and treaties of the United. 
States made in pursuance of the Constitution, to be for her the supreme 
law of the land. The States have their status in the Union, and they 
have no other legal status. If they break from this, they can only do so 
against law and by revolution. The Union, and not themselves sepa- 
rately, procured their independence and their liberty. By conquest or 
purchase the Union gave each of them whatever of independence, or 
liberty it has. The Union is older than any of the States, and, in fact, it 
created them as States. Originally some dependent colonies made the 
Union, and, in turn, the Union threw off their old dependence for them, 
and made them States, such as they are. Not one of them ever had a 
State constitution independent of the Union. Of course, it is not for- 
gotten that all the new States framed their constitutions before they en- 
tered the Union ; nevertheless dependent upon, and preparatory to, com- 
ing into the Union. 

Unquestionably the States have the powers and rights reserved to them 
in and by the National Constitution ; but among these, surely, are not 
included all conceivable powers, however mischievous or destructive; 
but, at most, such only as were known in the world, at the time, as gov- 
ernmental powers; and, certainly, a power to destroy the Government 
itself had never been known as a governmental — as a merely administra- 
tive power. This relative matter of National power and State Rights, 
as a principle, is no other than the principle of generality and locality. 
"Whatever concerns the whole should be confided to the whole — to the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. * 195 

General Government; while whatever concerns only the State should bo 
left exclusively to the State. This is all there is of original principle 
.about it. Whether the National Constitution, in defining boundaries be- 
tween the two has applied the principle with exact accuracy, is not to b<j 
questioned. We are all bound by that defining, without question. 

What is now combated, is the position that secession is consistent with 
the Constitution — is lawful and peaceful. It is not contended that there 
is any express law for it; and nothing should ever be implied as law which 
leads to unjust or absurd consequences. The Nation purchased with money 
the countries out of which several of these States were formed; is it just 
that they shall go off without leave and without refunding? The Nation 
paid very large sums (in the aggregate, I believe, nearly a hundred mil- 
lions) to relieve Florida of the aboriginal tribes; is it just that she shall 
now be off without consent, or without making any return? The Nation 
is now in debt for money applied to the benefit of these so-called seceding 
States in common with the rest; is it just either that creditors shall go 
unpaid, or the remaining States pay the whole? A part of the present 
National debt was contracted to pay the old debts of Texas; is it just that 
she shall leave aud pay no part of this herself? 

Again, if one State may secede, so may another ; and when all shall 
have seceded, none is left to pay the debts. Is this quite just to creditors? 
Did we notify them of this sage view of ours when we borrowed their 
money ? If we now recognize this doctrine by allowing the' seceders to 
go in peace, it is difficult to see what we can do if others choose to go, or 
to extort terms upon which they will promise to remain. 

The seceders insist that our Constitution admits of secession. They have 
assumed to make a national constitution of their own, in which, of neces- 
sity, they have either discarded or retained the right of secession, as they 
insist it exists in ours. If they have discarded it, they thereby admit 
that, on principle, it ought not to be in ours. If they have retained it, 
by their own construction of ours, they show that to be consistent they 
must secede from one another whenever they shall find it the easiest way 
of settling their debts, or effecting any other selfish or unjust object. The 
principle itself is one of disintegration, and upon which no Government 
can possibly endure. 

If all the States save one should assert the power to drive that one out 
of the Union, it is presumed the whole class of seceder politicians would 
at once deny the power, and denounce the act as the greatest outrage 
upon State rights. But suppose that precisely the same act, instead of 
being called " driving the one out," should be called "the seceding of the 
others from that one," it would be exactly what the seceders claim to do ; 
unless, indeed, they make the point that the one, because it is a minority, 
may rightfully do what the others, because they are a majority, may not 
rightfully do. These politicians are subtile and profound on the rights of 
minorities. They are not partial to that power which made the Constitu- 
Hon, and speaks from the preamble, calling itself " We, the People." 



196 The Life, Public Services, and 

It may well be questioned whether there is to-day a majority of the 
legally qualified voters of any State, except, perhaps, South Carolina, iu 
favor of disunion. There is much reason to believe that the Union men 
are the majority in many, if not in every other one, of the so-called sece- 
ded States. The contrary has not been demonstrated in any one of them. 
It is ventured to affirm this even of Virginia and Tennessee ; for the result 
of an election held in military camps, where the bayonets are all on one 
side of the question voted upon, can scarcely be considered as demonstra- 
ting popular sentiment. At such an election, all that large class who are 
at once for the Union and against coercion would be coerced to vote against 
the Union. 

It may be affirmed, without extravagance, that the free institutions we 
enjoy have developed the powers and improved the condition of our whole 
people beyond any example in the world. Of this we now have a stri- 
king and an impressive illustration. So large an army as the Government 
Las now on foot was never before known without a soldier in it but who 
had taken his place there of his own free choice. But more than this : 
there are many single regiments whose members, one and another, possess 
full practical knowledge of all the arts, sciences, professions, and what- 
ever else, whether useful or elegant, is known in the world ; and there is 
scarcely one from which there could not be selected a President, a Cabi- 
net, a Congress, and perhaps a court, abundantly competent to administer 
the Government itself. Nor do I say this is not true also in the army of 
our late friends, now adversaries in this contest; but if it is, so much 
better the reason why 'the Government which has conferred such benefits 
on both them and us should not be broken up. Whoever, in any section, 
proposes to abandon such a Government, would do well to consider iu 
deference to what principle it is that he does it; what better he is likely to 
get in its stead ; whether the substitute will give, or be intended to give, 
so much of good to the people? There are some foreshadowings on this 
subject. Our adversaries have ad opted some declarations of independence, 
in which, unlike the good old one, penned by Jefferson, they omit the 
words, "all men are created equal." Why? They have adopted a tem- 
porary national constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike our good 
old one, signed by Washington, they omit "We, the People," and sub- 
stitute, "We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States." 
Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of View the rights of men and 
the authority of the people ? 

This is essentially a people's contest. On the side of the Union it is a 
struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of Govern- 
ment whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift arti- 
ficial weights from all shoulders ; to clear the paths of laudable pursuits 
for all ; to afford all an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of 
life. Yielding to partial and temporary departures, from necessity, this is 
the leading object of the Government for whose existence we contend. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 197 

lam most happy to believe that the plain people understand and appre- 
ciate this. It is worthy of note, that while in this the Government's hour 
of trial, large numbers of those in the army and navy who have been 
favored with the offices have resigned and proved false to the hand which 
had pampered them, not one common soldier or common sailor is known, 
to have deserted his flag. 

Great honor is due to those officers who remained true, despite the ex- 
ample of their treacherous associates ; but the greatest honor, and most 
important fact of all, is the unanimous firmness of the common soldiers 
and common sailors. To the last man, so far as known, they have suc- 
cessfully resisted the traitorous efforts of those whose commands but an 
hour before they obeyed as absolute law. This is the patriotic instinct of 
plain people. They understand, without an argument, that the destroy- 
ing the Government which was made by Washington means no good to 
them. 

Our popular Government has often been called an experiment. Two 
points in it our people have already settled — the successful establishing 
and the successful administering of it. One still remains — its successful 
maintenance against a formidable internal attempt to overthrow it. It is 
now for them to demonstrate to the world that those who can fairly carry 
an election can also suppress a rebellion; that ballots are the rightful and 
peaceful successors of bullets ; and that when ballots have fairly and con- 
stitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets • 
that there can be no successful appeal, except to ballots themselves, at 
succeeding elections. Such will be a great lesson of peace; teaching men 
that what they cannot take by an election, neither can they take by a 
war ; teaching all the folly of being the beginners of a war. 

Lest there be some uneasiness in the minds of candid men as to what 
is to be the course of the Government towards the Southern States after 
the rebellion shall have been suppressed, the Executive deems it proper 
to say, it will be his purpose then, as ever, to be guided by the Constitu- 
tion and the laws; and that he probably will have no different under- 
standing of the powers and duties of the Federal Government relatively 
to the rights of the States and the people under the Constitution than that 
expressed in the Inaugural Address. 

He desires to preserve the Government, that it may be administered for 
all, as it was administered b} r the men who made it. Loyal citizens every- 
where have the right to claim this of their Government, and the Govern- 
ment has no right to withhold or neglect it. It is not perceived that iu 
giving it there is any coercion, any conquest, or any subjugation, in any 
just sense of those terms. 

The Constitution provides, and all the States have accepted the provi- 
sion, that " the United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a republican form of Government." But if a State may lawfully go out 
of the Union, having done so, it may also discard the republican form of 



193 The Life, Public Services, and 



Government ; so that to prevent its going out is an indispensable means 
to the end of maintaining the guarantee mentioned; and when an end is 
lawful and obligatory, the indispensable means to it are also lawful and 
obligatory. 

It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the duty of em- 
ploying the war power in defence of the Government forced upon him. 
He could but perform this duty or surrender the existence of the Govern- 
ment. No compromise by public servants could in this case be a cure ; 
not that compromises are not often proper, but that no popuiar Govern- 
ment can long survive a marked precedent that those who carry an elec- 
tion can only save the Government from immediate destruction by giving 
up the main point upon which the people gave the election. The people 
themselves, and not their servants, can safely reverse their own deliberate 
decisions. 

As a private citizen the Executive could not have consented that these 
institutions shall perish; much less could he, in betrayal of so va«t and so 
sacred a trust as these free people have confided to him. He felt that he 
bad no moral right to shrink, or even to count the chances of his own life, 
in what might follow. In full view of his great responsibility he has so 
far done what he has deemed his duty. Yon will now, according to your 
own judgment, perforin yours. lie sincerely hopes that your views and 
your action may so accord w T ith his as to assure all faithful citizens who 
have been disturbed in their rights of a certain and speedy restoration to 
them, under the Constitution and the laws. 

And having thus chosen our course, without guile and with pure pur- 
pose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with 
manly hearts. 

AcEAnAM Lincoln. 

July 4, 1861. 

Congress imitated the President in confining its attention 
exclusively to the rebellion and the means for its suppres- 
sion. The zealous and enthusiastic loyalty of the people 
met a prompt response from their representatives. The 
Judiciary Committee in the House was instructed on the 8th 
to prepare a bill to confiscate the property of rebels against 
the Government ; and on the 9th, a resolution -was adopted 
(ayes ninety-eight, noes fifty-five), declaring it to be 
"no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States 
to capture and return fugitive slaves." A bill w T as 
promptly introduced to declare valid all the acts of the 
President for the suppression of the rebellion previous 
to the meeting of Congress, and it brought on a general 
discussion of the principles involved and the interests 



State Papehs of Abraham Lincoln. 199 

concerned in the contest. There were a few in both 
Houses, with John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, at their 
head, who still insisted that any resort by the Govern- 
ment to the use of the war power against the rebels was 
•unconstitutional, and could only end in the destruction 
of the Union ; but the general sentiment of both Houses 
fully sustained the President in the steps he had taken. 
The subject of slavery was introduced into the discussion 
commenced by Senator Powell, of Kentucky, who pro- 
posed on the 18th to amend the Army Bill by adding a 
section that no part of the army should be employed " in 
subjecting or holding as a conquered province any sov- 
ereign State now or lately one of the United States, or 
in abolishing or interfering with African slavery in any of 
the States." The debate which ensued elicited the senti- 
ments of members on this subject. Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, 
concurred in the sentiment that the war was "not to be 
waged for the purpose of subjugating any State or freeing 
any slave, or to interfere with the social or domestic insti- 
tutions of any State or any people; it was to preserve 
this Union, to maintain the Constitution as it is in all its 
clauses, in all its guarantees, without change or limita- 
tion." Mr. Dixon, of Connecticut, assented to this, but 
also declared that if the South should protract the war, 
and "it should turn out that either this Government or 
slavery must be destroyed, then the people of the North 
—the Conservative people of the North — would say, 
( rather than let the Government perish, let slavery perish." 
• Mr. Lane, of Kansas, did not believe that slavery could 
survive in any State the march of the Union armies. 
These seemed to be the sentiments of both branches of 
Congress. The amendment was rejected, and bills were 
passed ratifying the acts of the President, authorizing 
him to accept the services of half a million of volunteers, 
and placing live hundred millions of dollars at the dispo- 
sal of the Government for the prosecution of the war. 

On the 15th of July, Mr. McClernand, a democrat from 
Illinois, offered a resolution pledging the House to vote 
any amount of money and any number of men necessary 



200 The Life, Public Services, and 

to suppress the rebellion, and restore the authority of the 
Government, which was adopted, with but five opposing 
votes ; and on the 22d of July, Mr. Crittenden, of Ken- 
tucky, offered the following resolution, defining the objects 
of the war : — 

Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United 
States, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the 
country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in arms against 
the Constitutional Government, and in arms around the Capital; that in 
this national emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion 
or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country ; that this 
war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any pur- 
pose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering 
with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend 
and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the 
Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States un- 
impaired; and that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war 
ought to cease. 

This resolution was adopted, with but two dissenting 
votes. It, was accepted by the whole country as defining 
the objects and limiting the continuance of the war, and 
was regarded with special favor by the loyal citizens of 
the Border States, whose sensitiveness on the subject of 
slavery had been skilfully and zealously played upon by 
the agents and allies of the rebel confederacy. The war 
was universally represented by these men as waged for 
the destruction of slavery, and as aiming, not at the pres- 
ervation of the Union, but the emancipation of the slaves ; 
and there was great danger that these appeals to the pride, 
the interest, and the prejudices of the Border Slave States 
might bring them to join their fortunes to those of the 
rebellion. The passage of this resolution, with so great a 
degree of unanimity, had a very soothing effect upon the 
apprehensions of these States, and contributed largely to 
strengthen the Government in its contest with the rebellion. 

The sentiments of Congress on this matter, as well as on 
the general subject of the war, were still further developed 
in the debates which followed the introduction to the House 
of a bill passed by the Senate to "confiscate property 
used for insurrectionary purposes." It was referred to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 201 

the Judiciary Committee, and reported back -with an amend- 
ment, providing that whenever any slave should "be 
required or permitted by his master to take up arms, or 
be employed in any fort, dock-yard, or in any military 
service in aid of the rebellion, he should become entitled 
to his freedom. Mr. Wickliffe and Mr. Burnett, of Ken- 
tucky, at once contested the passage of the bill, on the 
ground that the Government had no right to interfere in 
any way with the relation existing between a master and 
his slave ; and they were answered by the Northern mem- 
bers with the argument that the Government certainly 
had a right to confiscate property of any kind employed 
in the rebellion, and that there was no more reason for 
protecting slavery against the consequences of exercising 
this right, than for shielding any other interest that might 
be thus involved. The advocates of the bill denied that 
it was the intention of the law to emancipate the slaves, 
or that it would bear any such construction in the courts 
of justice. They repudiated the idea that men in arms 
against the Union and Constitution could claim the pro 
tection of the Constitution, and thus derive from that 
instrument increased ability to secure its destruction ; but 
they based their proposed confiscation of slave property 
solely on the ground that it was a necessary means to the 
prosecution of the war, and not in any sense the object 
for which the war was waged. After a protracted debate, 
that section of the bill which related to this subject was 
passed — ayes sixty, noes fortj^-eight — in the following 
form : — 

That whenever, hereafter, during the present insurrection against tho 
Government of the United States, any person claimed to be held to labor 
or service under the laws of any State, shall be required or permitted by 
the person to whom such labor or service is claimed to be due, or by the 
lawful agent of such person, to take up arms against the United States, 
or shall be required or permitted by the person to whom such service or 
labor is claimed to be due, or his lawful agent, to work or to be employed 
in or upon any fort, navy-yard, dock, armory, ship, or intrenchment, or 
in any military or naval service whatever, against the Government and 
lawful authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, tho 
person to whom such service is claimed to be due, shall forfeit his claim 



202 The Life/ Public Services, and 

to such labor, any law of the State, or of the United States, to the con- 
trary notwithstanding ; and whenever thereafter the person claiming sueh 

labor or service shall seek to enforce his claim, it shall be a full and suffi- 
cient answer to such claim that the person whose service or labor is 
claimed, had been employed in hostile service against the Government of 
the United States, contrary to the provisions of this act. 

Congress closed its extra session on the Ctli of August. 
It had taken the most vigorous and effective measures for 
the suppression of the rebellion, haying clothed the Pres- 
ident with even greater power than he had asked for in 
the prosecution of the war, and avoided with just iidelty 
all points which could divide and weaken the loyal sen- 
timent of the country. The people responded with hearty 
applause to the patriotic action of their representatives. 
The universal temper of the country was one of buoyancy 
and hope. Throughout the early part of the summer the 
rebels had been steadily pushing troops through Virginia 
to the borders of the Potomac, menacing the National Cap- 
ital with capture, until in the latter part of June they had 
an army of not far from thirty-five thousand men, holding 
a strong position along the Bull Run Creek — its left posted 
at Winchester, and its right resting at Manassas. It was 
determined to attack this force and drive it from the vicin- 
ity of Washington, and the general belief of the country 
was that this would substantially end the war. The 
National army, numbering about thirty thousand men, 
moved from the Potomac, on the 16th of July, under 
General McDowell, and the main attack was made on the 
21st. It resulted in the defeat, with a loss of four hundred 
and eighty killed and one thousand wounded, of our 
forces, and their falling back, in the utmost disorder and 
confusion, upon Washington. Our army was completely 
routed, and if the rebel forces had known the extent of 
their success, and had been in condition to avail them 
selves of it with vigor and energy, the Capital would 
easily have fallen into their hands. 

The result of this battle took the whole country by sur- 
prise. The most sanguine expectations of a prompt and 
decisive victory had been universally entertained ; and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 203 

the actual issue first revealed to the people the prospect 
of a long and bloody war. But the public heart was not 
in the least discouraged. On the contrary, the effect was 
to rouse still higher the courage and determination of- the 
people. No one dreamed for an instant of submission. 
The most vigorous efforts were made to reorganize the 
army, to increase its numbers by volunteering, and to 
establish a footing for National troops at various points 
along the rebel coast. On the 2Sth of August Fort Hat- 
teras was surrendered to the National forces, and on the 
31st of October Port Royal, on the coast of South Caro- 
lina, fell into possession of the United States. On the 3d 
of December Ship Island, lying between Mobile and New 
Orleans, was occupied. Preparations were also made for 
an expedition against New Orleans, and by a series of 
combined movements the rebel forces were driven out of 
Western Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri — States in 
which the population had from the beginning of the con- 
test been divided in sentiment and action. 

On the 31st of October General Scott, finding himself 
unable, in consequence of illness and advancing age, to 
take the field or discharge the duties imposed by the 
enlarging contest, resigned his position as commander of 
the army, in the following letter to the Secretary of War : — 



f 



IlEATi-QrA*;TEi:s of Tire Abmt, 
Washington, October 31, 1S61. 

The lion. S. Oameeon, Secretary of War : — ■ 

Sir:— For more than three years I have been unable, from a hurt, to 
mount a horse, or to walk more than a few paces at a time, and that with 
much pain. Other and new infirmities — dropsy and vertigo — admonish 
me that repose of mind and body, with the appliances of surgery and 
medicine, are necessary to add a little more to a life already protracted 
innch beyond the usual span of man. 

It is under such circumstances — made doubly painful by the unnatural 
and unjust rebellion now raging in the Southern States of our (so late) pros 
perous and happy Union — that I am compelled to request that my name 
may be placed on the list of army officers retired from active service. 

As this request is founded on an absolute right, granted by a recent act 
of Congress, I am entirely at liberty to say it is with deep regret that I 
withdraw myself, in these momentous times, from the orders of a "resi- 
dent who has treated me with, distinguished kindness and courtesy ,,v<liouo 



204 The Life, Public Services, and 

I know, upon much personal intercourse, to be patriotic, without sectional 

Partialities or prejudices ; to be highly conscientious in the performance 

of every duty, and of unrivalled activity and perseverance. 

And to you, Mr. Secretary, whom I now officially address for the last 

time, I beg to acknowledge my many obligations, for the uniform high 

consideration I have received at your hands ; and have the honor to 

remain, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant, 

Winfield Scott. 

President Lincoln waited upon General Scott at Iris 
residence, accompanied by his Cabinet, and made personal 
expression to him of the deep regret which lie, in common 
with the whole country, felt in parting with a public ser- 
vant so venerable in years and so illustrious for the 
services he had rendered. He also issued the following 
order : — 

On the first day of November, 1861, upon his own application to the 
President of the United States, Brevet Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott 
is ordered to be placed, and hereby is placed, upon the list of retired 
officers of the army of the United States, without reduction of his current 
pay, subsistence, or allowances. 

The American people will hear with sadness and deep emotion that 
General Scott has withdrawn from the active control of the army, while 
the President and unanimous Cabinet express their own and the Nation's 
sympathy in his personal affliction, and their profound sense of the im- 
portant public services rendered by him to his country during his long 
and brilliant career, among which will ever be gratefully distinguished his 
faithful devotion to the Constitution, the Union, and the Flag, when 
assailed by parricidal rebellion. Abeaham Li^colx. 

The command of the army then devolved by appoint 
ment upon Major-General McClellan, who had been re 
called from Western Virginia after the battle of Bull Run, 
and had devoted himself to the task of recruiting the 
army in front of Washington, and preparing it for the 
defence of the Capital, and for a fresh advance upon the 
forces of the rebellion. 

It cannot have escaped attention that thus far, in its 
policy concerning the war, the Government had been very 
greatly influenced by a desire to prevent the Border Slave 
States from joining the rebel confederacy. Their accession 
would have added immensely to the forces of the rebel- 
lion, and would have increased very greatly the labor and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 205 

difficulty of its suppression. The Administration raid 
Congress had, therefore, avoided, so far as possible, any 
measures in regard to slavery which could heedlessly ex- 
cite the hostile prejudices of the people of the Border 
States. The Confiscation Act affected only those slaves 
who should be " required or permitted" "by their masters 
to render service to the rebel cause. It did not in any 
respect change the condition of any others. The Presi- 
dent, in the Executive Department, acted upon the same 
principle. The question first arose in Virginia, simulta- 
neously at Fortress Monroe, and in the western part of 
the State. On the 26th of May, General McClellan issued 
an address to the people of the district under his com- 
mand, in which he said to them, "Understand one thing 
clearly: not only will we abstain from all interference 
with your slaves, but we will, on the contrary, with an 
iron hand crush any attempt at insurrection on their part." -^ 
On the 27th of May, General Butler, in command at 
Fortress Monroe, wrote to the Secretary of War that he 
was greatly embarrassed by the number of slaves that 
were coming in from the surrounding country and seeking 
protection within the lines of his camp. He had deter- 
mined to regard them as contraband of war, and to em- ' 
ploy their labor at a fair compensation, against which 
should be charged the expense of their support — thb 
relative value to be adjusted afterwards. The Secretary 
of War, in a letter dated May 30th, expressed the approval 
by the Government of the course adopted by General 
Butler, and directed him, on the one hand, to "permit 
no interference by the persons under his command with 
the relations of persons held to service under the laws of 
any State," and on the other, to "refrain from surren- 
dering to alleged masters any such persons who might 
come within his lines." 

On the 8th of August, after the passage of the Confisca- 
tion Act by Congress, the Secretary of War again wrote 
to General Butler, setting forth somewhat more fully the 
views of the President and the Administration upon this 
subject, as follows : — 



20G The Life, Public Services, and 

It is the desire of the President that all existing rights in all the States 
5* fully respected and maintained. The war now prosecuted on the part 
of the Federal Government is a war for the Union, and for the preserva- 
tion of all constitutional rights of States and the citizens of the States in 
the Union. Hence no question can arise as to fugitives from service within 
the States and Territories in which the authority of the Union is fully 
acknowledged. The ordinary forms of judicial proceeding, which mast 
he respected by military and civil authorities alike, will suffice for the 
enforcement of all legal claims. But in States wholly or partially under 
insurrectionary control, where the laws of the United States are so far 
opposed and resisted that they cannot be effectually enforced, it is obvi- 
ous that rights dependent on the execution of those laws must temporarily 
fail ; and it is equally obvious that rights dependent on the laws of the 
States within which military operations are conducted must be necessarily 
subordinated to the military exigencies created by the insurrection, if not 
wholly forfeited by the treasonable conduct of parties claiming them. To 
this general rule rights to services can form no exception. 

The act of Congress approved August 6th, lSill, declares that if per- 
sons held to service shall be employed in hostility to the United States, 
the right to their services shall be forfeited, and such persons shall be 
discharged therefrom. It follows of necessity that no claim can be recog- 
nized by the military authorities of the Union to the services of such per- 
sons "when fugitives. 

A more difficult question is presented in respect to persons escaping 
from the service of loyal masters. It is quite apparent that the laws of 
the State, under which only the services of such fugitives can be claimed, 
must needs be wholly, or almost wholly suspended, as to remedies, by the 
insurrection and the military measures necessitated by it ; and it is equally 
apparent that the substitution of military for judicial measures, for the 
enforcement of such claims, must be attended by great inconveniences, 
embarrassments, and injuries. 

Under these circumstances, it seems quite clear that the substantial 
rights of loyal masters will be best protected by receiving such fugitives, 
as well as fugitives from disloyal masters, into the services of the United 
States, and employing them under such organizations and in such occupa- 
tions as circumstances may suggest or require. Of course a record should 
be kept, showing the name and description of the fugitives, the name and 
the character, as loyal or disloyal, of the master, and such facts as may 
be necessary to a correct understanding of the circumstances of each case, 
after tranquillity shall have been restored. Upon the return of peace, 
Congress will doubtless properly provide for all the persons thus received 
into the service of the Union, and for just compensation to loyai masters. 
In this way only, it would seem, can the duty and safety of the Govern- 
ment, and the just rights of all, be fully reconciled and harmonized. 

You will therefore consider yourself as instructed to govern your future 
action, in respect to fugitives from service, by the principles herein stated. 



State Papers jf Abraham Lincoln. 207 

ani trill »eport from time to time, and at least twice in each month, your 
action in the premises to this Department. You will, however, neither 
authorise nor permit any interference, by the troops under your command, 
with the servants of peaceful citizens, in house or field, nor will you. in 
any way, encourage such servants to leave the lawful service of their 
masters; nor will you, except in cases where the public safety may seem 
to require it, prevent the voluntary return of any fugitive to the service 
from which he may have escaped. 

The same policy was adopted in every part of the coun- 
try. All interference with the internal institutions of 
any State was expressly forbidden ; but the Governmeiit 
would avail itself of the services of a portion of the 
slaves, taking care fully to provide for compensation to 
loyal masters. On the 16th of August, Hon. C. B. Smith, 
Secretary of the Interior, in a speech made at Providence, 
Rhode Island, took occasion to declare the policy of the 
Administration upon this subject. Its theory, said he, is, "> 
that "the States are sovereign within their spheres ; the < 
Government of the United States has no more right to 
interfere with the institution of slavery in South Carolina ^ 
titan it has to interfere with the peculiar institution of / 
Rhode Island, whose benefits I have enjoyed." 

On the 31st of August, General Fremont, commanding / 
the Western Department, which embraced Missouri and a 
part of Kentucky, issued an order "extending and de- 
claring established martial law throughout the State of 
Missouri," and declaring that "the property, real and 
personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri, who 
shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall 
be directly proven to have taken an active part with their 
enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the 
public use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby 
it :clared free men." The President regarded this order 
as transcending the authority vested in him by the Act of 
Congress, and wrote to General Fremont, calling his at- 
tention to this point, and requesting him to modify his 
proclamation so as to make it conform to the law. Gen- 
eral Fremont, desiring to throw off from himself the 
responsibility of changing his action, desired an ex 



208 The Life, Public Services, and 

plicit order — whereupon the President thus addressed 
him : — 

Wasiiinctox, D. C, September 11, 1SG1. 

Major-General Jottn C. Feemoxt : — 

Sie : — Yours of the 8th, in answer to mine of the 2d instant, was just 
received. Assured that you upon the ground could better judge of the 
necessities of your position than I could at this distance, on seeing your 
proclamation of August 30, I perceived no general objection to it; tho 
particular clause, however, in relation to the confiscation of property and 
the liberation of slaves, appeared to me to be objectionable in its non- 
conformity to the Act of Congress, passed the 6th of last August, upon 
the same subjects, and hence I wrote you expressing my wish that that 
clause should he modified accordingly. Your answer, just received, ex- 
presses the preference on your part that I should make an open order for 
the modification, which I very cheerfully do. It is therefore ordered that 
the said clause of said proclamation be so modified, held, and construed, 
as to conform with, and not to transcend, the provisions on the same sub- 
ject contained in the act of Congress entitled "An Act to confiscate prop- 
erty used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August 6, 1861, and 
the said act be published at length with this order. 

Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 

These views of the Government were still farther en- 
forced in a letter from the Secretary of War to General T. 
W. Sherman, who commanded the expedition to Port 
Royal, and in orders issued "by General Dix in Virginia, 
on the 17th of November, and by General Halleck, who 
succeeded General Fremont in the Western Department, 
prohibiting fugitive slaves from being received within 
the lines of the army. During all this time strenuous 
efforts were made in various quarters to induce the Presi- 
dent to depart from this policy, and not only to proclaim 
a general emancipation of all the slaves, but to put arms 
in their hands, and employ them in the field against the 
rebels. But they were ineffectual. The President ad- 
hered firmly and steadily to the policy which the then 
existing circumstances of the country, in his judgment, 
rendered wise and necessary ; and he was sustained in 
this action by the public sentiment of the loyal States, 
and by the great body of the people in the Slave States 
along the border. The course which he pursued at that 
time contributed largely, beyond doubt, to strengthen 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 209 

the cause of the Union in those Border States, and espe- 
cially to withdraw Tennessee from her hastily formed 
connection with the rebel Confederacy. 

In the early part of November an incident occurred 
which threatened for a time to involve the country in 
open war with England. On the 7th of that month the 
British mail steamer Trent left Havana for St. Thomas, 
having on board Messrs. J. M. Mason and John Slidell, 
on their way as commissioners from the Confederate 
States to England and France. On the 8th the Trent was 
hailed from the United States frigate Ban Jacinto, Captain 
Wilkes, and brought-to by a shot across her bows. Two 
officers and about twenty armed men from the latter then 
went on board the Trent, searched her, and took from 
her by force, and against the protest of the British offi- 
cers, the two rebel commissioners, with Messrs. Eustis o 
and McFarland, their Secretaries, who were brought to 
the United States and lodged in Fort Warren, the Trent 
being released and proceeding on her way. The most 
intense excitement pervaded the country when news of 
this affair was received. The feeling was one of admira- 
tion at the boldness of Captain Wilkes, and of exultation ^ 
at the capture of the rebel emissaries. In England 
most intense and passionate resentment took possess 
of the public mind. The demand for instant redress was 
universal, and, in obedience to it, the Government at 
once ordered troops to Canada and the outfit of vessels 
of war. 

Our Government met the matter with prompt and self- 
possessed decision. On the 30th of November Mr. Sew- 
ard wrote to Mr. Adams a general statement of the facts 
of the case, accompanied by the assurance that "in the 
capture of Messrs. Mason and Slidell Captain Wilkes had 
acted without any instructions from the Government," 
and that our Government was prepared to discuss the 
matter in a perfectly fair and friendly spirit as soon as 
the ground taken by the British Government should be 
made known. Earl Russell, under the same date, wrote 
to lord Lyons, rehearsing the facts of the case, a ad say- 
14 



theNv 
ion v 



210 The Life, -Public Services, and 

ing that the British Government was "willing to believe 
that the naval officer who committed the aggression waa 
not acting in compliance with any authority from his 
Government," because the Government of the United 
States "must be fully aware that the British Government 
could, not allow such an affront to the national honor to 
pass without full reparation." Earl Bussell trusted, 
therefore, that when the matter should be brought under 
its notice the United States Government would, "of its 
own accord, offer to the British Government such redress 
as alone could satisfy the British nation, namely, the lib- 
eration of the four gentlemen and their delivery to the 
British minister, that they may again be placed under 
British protection, and a suitable apology for the aggres- 
sion which has been committed." In a subsequent note 
Lord Lyons was instructed to wait seven days after its 
delivery for a reply to this demand, and in case no an- 
swer, or any other answer than a compliance with its 
terms, should be given by the expiration of that time, he 
was to leave 'Washington with the archives of the lega- 
tion, and repair immediately to London. 

On the 26th of December the Secretary of State, by di- 
rection of the President, sent a reply to this dispatch, in 
which the whole question was discussed at length, and 
with conspicuous ability. The Government decided that 
the detention of the vessel, and the removal from her of 
the emissaries of the rebel confederacy, was justifiable by 
the laws of war and the practice and precedents of the 
British Government ; but that in assuming to decide upon 
the liability of these persons to capture for himself, in- 
stead of sending them before a legal tribunal where a 
regular trial could be had, Captain Wilkes had departed 
from the rule of international law uniformly asserted by 
the American Government, and forming part of its most 
cherished policy. The Government decided, therefore, 
that the four persons in question would be "cheerfully 
liberated." This decision, sustained by the reasoning 
advanced in its support, commanded the immediate and 
universal acquiescence of the American people ; while in 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 211 

England it was received with hearty applause "by the 
Mends of this country, especially as it silenced the clam- 
ors and disappointed the hostile hopes of its enemies. 
The French Grovernment had joined that of England in 
its representations upon this subject, and the decision of 
our Government was received there with equal satisfac- 
tion. The effect of the incident, under the just and judi- 
cious course adopted "by the Administration, was emi- 
nently favorable to the United States — increasing the 
general respect for its adherence to sound principles of 
public law, and silencing effectually the slander that its 
Government was too weak to disappoint or thwart a pop- 
ular clamor. One of the immediate fruits of the discus- 
sion was the prompt rejection of all demands for recog- 
nizing the independence of the Confederate States. 



212 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE REGULAR SESSION OP CONGRESS, DECEMBER, 1S61. — THE 
MESSAGE.— DEBATES, ETC. 

Meeting of Congress. — President's Message. — Disposition of Con- 
gress. — Slavery in Territories and District of Columbia. — Pro- 
posed Aid to Emancipation by Slave States.— The Debate in 
Congress. — The President and General Hunter. — The Border 
State Representatives. — The Border State Reply. — The Finances. 
— TnE Confiscation Bill. — The President's Action and Opinions. — 
The President's Message. — Message in Regard to Mr. Cameron. — 
The President and nis Cabinet. — Close of the Session of Con- 
gress. — The President's Letter to Mr. Greeley. — The President 
and the Chicago Convention. — Proclamation of Emancipation. 

Congress met in regular session (the second of the 
Thirty-seventh Congress) on the 2d of December, 1861. 
On the next day the President sent in his Annual Message, 
as follows : — 

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

In the midst of unprecedented political troubles, we have cause of great 
gratitude to God for unusual good health and most abundant harvests. 

You will not be surprised to learn that, in the peculiar exigencies of the 
times, our intercourse with foreign nations has been attended with profound 
solicitude, chiefly turning upon our own domestic affairs. 

A disloyal portion of the American people have, during the whole year, 
been engaged in an attempt to divide and destroy the Union. A nation 
which endures factious domestic division is exposed to disrespect abroad ; 
and one party, if not both, is sure, sooner or later, to invoke foreign inter- 
vention. 

Nations thus tempted to interfere are not always able to resist the 
counsels of seeming expediency and ungenerous ambition, although 
measures adopted under such influences seldon fail to be unfortunate and 
injurious to those adopting them. 

The disloyal citizens of tho United States who have offered the ruin of 
our country, in return for the aid and comfort which they have invoked 
abroad, have received less patronage and encouragement than they prob- 
ably expected. If it were just to suppose, as the insurgents have seemed 



►State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 213 

to assume, that foreign nations, in tins case, discarding all moral, social, 
and treaty obligations, Avould act solely and selfishly for the most speedy 
restoration of commerce, including especially the acquisition of cotton, 
those nations appear, as yet, not to have seen their way to their object 
more directly, or clearly, through the destruction, than through the pres- 
ervation, of the Union. If we could dare to believe that foreign nations 
are actuated by no higher principle than this, I am quite sure a sound ar- 
gument could be made to show them that they can reach their aim more 
readily and easily by aiding to crush this rebellion, than by giving en- 
couragement to it. 

The principal lever relied on by the insurgents for exciting foreign 
nations to hostility against us, as already intimated, is the embarrassment 
of commerce. Those nations, however, not improbably, saw from the 
first, that it was the Union which made, as well our foreign as our do- 
mestic commerce. They can scarcely have failed to perceive that the effort 
for disunion produced the existing difficulty ; and that one strong nation 
promises more durable peace, and a more extensive, valuable, and reliable 
commerce, than can the same nation broken into hostile fragments. 

It is not my purpose to review our discussions with foreign states ; 
because whatever might bo their wishes or dispositions, the integrity of 
our country and the stability of our Government mainly depend, not upon 
them, but on the loyalty, virtue, patriotism, and intelligence of the Amer- 
ican people. The correspondence itself, with the usual reservations, is 
herewith submitted. 

I venture to hope it will appear that we have practised prudence and 
liberality towards foreign powers, averting causes of irritation ; and with 
firmness maintaining our own rights and honor. 

Since, however, it is apparent that here, as in every other state, foreign 
dangers necessarily attend domestic difficulties, I recommend that adequate 
and ample measures be adopted for maintaining the public defences on 
every side. While, under this general recommendation, provision for defend- 
ing our sea-coast line readily occurs to the mind, I also, in the same con- 
nection, ask the attention of Congress to our great lakes and rivers. It is 
believed that some fortifications and depots of arms and munitions, with 
harbor and navigation improvements, all at well-selected points upon 
these, would be of great importance to the national defence and preserva- 
tion. I ask attention to the views of the Secretary of War, expressed in 
his report, upon the same general subject. 

I deem it of importance that the loyal regions of East Tennessee and 
"Western North Carolina should be connected with Kentucky and other 
faithful parts of the Union by railroad. I therefore recommend, as a 
military measure, that Congress provide for the construction of such road 
as speedily as possible. 

Kentucky will no doubt co-operate, and through her Legislature make 
the most judicious selection of a line. The northern terminus must 



214 The Life, Public Services, and 

connect with some existing railroad, and whether the route shall be from 
Lexington or Nicholasville to the Cumberland Gap, or from Lebanon to 
the Tennesee line, in the direction of Knoxville, or on some still different 
line, can easily be determined. Kentucky and the General Government 
co-operating, the work can be completed in a very short time, and when 
done it will be not only of vast present usefulness, but also a valuable 
permanent improvement worth its cost in all the future. 

Some treaties, designed chiefly for the interests of commerce, and having 
no grave political importance, have been negotiated, and will be submitted 
to the Senate for their consideration. Although we have failed to induce 
some of the commercial Powers to adopt a desirable melioration of the rigor 
of maritime war, we have removed all obstructions from the way of this 
humane reform, except such as are merely of temporary and accidental 
occurrence. 

I invite your attention to the correspondence between her Britannic 
Majesty's Minister, accredited to this Government, and the Secretary of 
State, relative to the detention of the British ship Perthshire in June last 
by the United States steamer Massachusetts, for a supposed breach of the 
blockade. As this detention was occasioned by an obvious misapprehen- 
sion of the facts, and as justice requires that we should commit no belliger- 
ent act not founded in strict right as sanctioned by public law, I recom- 
mend that an appropriation be made to satisfy the reasonable demand of 
the owners of the vessel for her detention. 

I repeat the recommendation of my predecessor in his annual message to 
Congress in December last in regard to the disposition of the surplus 
which will probably remain after satisfying the claims of American citizens 
against China, pursuant to the awards of the commissioners under the act 
of tho 3d of March, 1859. 

If, however, it should not be deemed advisable to carry that recom- 
mendation into effect, I would suggest that authority be given for invest- 
ing the principal over the proceeds of the surplus referred to in good se- 
curities, with a view to the satisfaction of such other just claim of our 
citizens against China as are not unlikely to arise hereafter in the course 
of our extensive trade with that empire. 

By the act of the 5th of August last, Congress authorized the President 
to instruct the commanders of suitable vessels to defend themselves against 
and to capture pirates. This authority has been exercised in a single in- 
stance only. 

For the more effectual protection of our extensive and valuable com- 
merce in the Eastern seas especially, it seems to me that it would also be 
advisable to authorize the commanders of sailing-vessels to recapture any 
prizes which pirates may make of the United States vessels and their car- 
goes, and the Consular Courts established by law in Eastern countries to 
adjudicate the cases in the event that this should not be objected to by 
the local authorities. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 215 

Tf any good reason exists why wo should persevere longer in with 
holding our recognition of the independence and sovereignty of Ilayti 
and Liberia, I am unable to discern it. Unwilling, however, to inaugurate 
a novel policy in regard to them without the approbation of Congress, I 
submit to your consideration the expediency of an appropriation for 
maintaining a Charge tV Affaire* near each of chose new states. It does 
not admit of doubt that important commercial advantages might be secured 
by favorable treaties with them. 

The operations of the Treasury during the period which has elapsed 
since your adjournment have been conducted with signal success. The 
patriotism of the people has placed at the disposal of the Government the 
large means demanded by the public exigencies. Much of the national 
loan lias been taken by citizens of the industrial classes, whose confidence 
in their country's faith, and zeal for their country's deliverance from iis 
present peril, have induced them to contribute to the support of the 
Government the whole of their limited acquisitions. This fact imposes 
peculiar obligations to economy in disbursement and energy in action. 
The revenue from all sources, including loans for the financial year ending 
on the 30th of June, 1861, was $80,835,900 27; and the expenditures for 
the same period, including payments on account of the public debt, were 
$84,578,034 47; leaving a balance in the treasury, on the 1st of July, of 
$2,257,065 80 for the first quarter of the financial year ending on Sep- 
tember 30, 1861. The receipts from all sources, including the balance of 
July 1, were $102,532,509 27, and the expenses $98,239,733 09; leaving 
a balance, on the 1st of October, 1801, of $4,292,776 18. 

Estimates for the remaining three-quarters of the year and for the 
financial year of 1S03, together with his views of the ways and means for 
meeting the demands contemplated by them, will be submitted to Congress 
by the Secretary of the Treasury. It is gratifying to know that the 
expenses made necessary by the rebellion are not beyond the resources of 
the loyal people, and to believe that the same patriotism which has thus 
far sustained the Government will continue to sustain it till peace and 
union shall again bless the land. I respectfully refer to the report of the 
Secretary of War for information respecting the numerical strength of tho 
army, and for recommendations having in view an increase of its efficiency, 
and the well-being of the various branches of the service intrusted to his 
care. It is gratifying to know that the patriotism of the people has proved 
equal to the occasion, and that the number of troops tendered greatly 
exceed the force which Congress authorized me to call into the field. I 
refer with pleasure to those portions of his report which make allusion to 
the creditable degree of discipline already attained by our troops, and to 
the excellent sanitary condition of the entire army. The recommendation 
of the Secretary for an organization of the militia upon a uniform basis is 
a subject of vital importance to the future safety of the country, and is 
commended to the serious attention of Congress. The large addition to 



216 The Life, Public Services, and 

the regular army, in connection with the defection that has so considera- 
bly diminished the number of its officers, gives peculiar importance to hid 
recommendation for increasing the corps of cadets to the greatest capacity 
of the Military Academy. 

By mere omission, I presume, Congress has failed to provide chaplains 
for the hospitals occupied by the volunteers. This subject was brought to 
my notice, and I was induced to draw up the form of a letter, one copy 
of which| properly addressed, has been delivered to each of the persons, 
and at the dates respectively named and stated in a schedule, containing, 
also, the form of the letter marked A, and herewith transmitted. These 
gentlemen, I understand, entered upon the duties designated at the times 
respectively stated in the schedule, and have labored faithfully therein 
ever since. I therefore recommend that they be compensated at the same 
rate as chaplains in the army. I further suggest that general provision be 
made for chaplains to serve at hospitals, as well as with regiments. 

The report of the Secretary of the Navy presents, in detail, the opera- 
tions of that branch of the service, the activity and energy which have 
characterized its administration, and the results of measures to increase 
its efficiency and power. Such have been the additions, by construction 
and purchase, that it may almost be said a navy has been created and 
brought into service since our difficulties commenced. 

Besides blockading our extensive coast, squadrons larger than ever 
before assembled under our flag have been put afloat, and performed deeds 
which have increased our naval renown. 

I would invite special attention to the recommendation of the Secretary 
for a more perfect organization of the navy, by introducing additional 
grades in the service. 

The present organization is defective and unsatisfactory, and the sug- 
gestions submitted by the department will, it is believed, if adopted, ob- 
viate the difficulties alluded to, promote harmony, and increase the effi- 
ciency of the navy. 

There are three vacancies on the bench of the Supreme Court — two by 
the decease of Justices Daniel and McLean, and one by the resignation of 
Justice Campbell. I have so far forborne making nominations to fill these 
vacancies for reasons which I will now state. Two of the outgoing judges 
resided within the States now overrun by revolt ; so that if successors 
were appointed in the same localities, they could not now serve upon their 
circuits; and many of the most competent men there probably would not 
take the personal hazard of accepting to serve, even here, upon the su- 
preme bench. I have been unwilling to throw all the appointments 
northward, thus disabling myself from doing justice to the South on the 
return of peace; although I may remark, that to transfer to the North 
one which has heretofore been in the South, would not, with reference to 
territory and population, be unjust. 

During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge McLean, his cir- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 217 

cuit grew into an empire — altogether too large for any one judge to give 
the courts therein more than a nominal attendance — rising in population 
from one million four hundred and seventy thousand and eighteen, in 1830, 
to six million one hundred and lifty-one thousand four hundred and five, 
in 1SG0. 

Besides this, the country generally has outgrown our present judicial 
system. If uniformity wa3. at all intended, the system requires that all 
the States shall he accommodated with Circuit Courts, attended hy su- 
preme judges, while, in fact, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas, Florida, 
Texas, California, and Oregon, have never had any such courts. Nor can 
this well be remedied without a change of the system ; because the add- 
ing of judges to the Supreme Court, enough fGr the accommodation of all 
parts of the country with Circuit Courts, would create a court altogether 
too numerous for a judicial body of any sort. And the evil, if it be one, 
will increase as new States come into the Union. Circuit Courts are use- 
ful, or they are not useful. If useful, no State should be denied them ; if 
not useful, no State should have them. Let them be. provided for all, or 
abolished as to all. 

Three modifications occur to me, either of which, I think, would be an 
improvement upon our present system. Let the Supreme Court be of 
convenient number in every event. Then, first, let the whole country be 
divided into circuits of convenient size, the supreme judges to serve in a 
number of them corresponding to their own number, and independent 
circuit judges be provided for all the rest. Or, secondly, let the supreme 
judges be relieved from circuit duties, and circuit judges provided fcr all 
the circuits. Or, thirdly, dispense with circuit courts altogether, leaving 
the judicial functions wholly to the district courts and an independent 
Supreme Court. 

I respectfully recommend to the consideration of Congress the present 
condition of the statute laws, with the hope that Congress will be able 
to find an easy remedy for many of the inconveniences and evils which 
constantly embarrass those engaged in the practical administration of 
them. Since the organization of the Government, Congress has enacted 
some five thousand acts and joint resolutions, which fill more than six 
thousand closely-printed pages, and are scattered through many volumes. 
Many of these acts have beer, drawn in haste and without sufficient cau- 
tion, so that their provisions are often obscure in themselves, or in con- 
flict with each other, or at least so doubtful as to render it very difficult 
for even the best-informed persons to ascertain precisely what the statute 
law really is. 

It seems to me very important that the statute laws should be made as 
plain and intelligible as possible, and be reduced to as small a compass aa 
may consist with the fulness and precision of the will of the legislature 
and the perspicuity of its language. This, well done, would, I think, 
greatly facilitate the labors of those whose duty it is to assist in the ad- 



218 The Life, Public Services, and 

ministration of the laws, and would be a lasting benefit to the people, by 
placing before them, in a more accessible and intelligible form, the laws 
which so deeply concern their interests and their duties. 

I am informed by some whose opinions I respect, tbat all the acts of 
Congress now in force, and of a permanent and general nature, might be 
revised and rewritten, so as to be embraced in one volume (or, at most, 
two volumes) of ordinary and convenient size. And 1 respectfully recom- 
mend to Congress to consider of the subject, and, if my suggestion be ap- 
proved, to devise such plan as to their wisdom shall seem most proper for 
the attainment of the end proposed. 

One of the unavoidable consequences of the present insurrection is the 
entire suppression, in many places, of all the ordinary means of admin- 
istering civil justice by the officers, and in the forms of existing law. This 
is the case, in whole or in part, in all the insurgent States ; and as our 
armies advance upon and take possession of parts of those States, the 
practical evil becomes more apparent. There are no courts nor officers to 
whom the citizens of other States may apply for the enforcement of their 
lawful claims against citizens of the insurgent States ; and there is a vast 
amount of debt constituting such claims. Some have estimated it as high 
as two hundred million dollars, due, in large part, from insurgents in open 
rebellion to loyal citizens who are, even now, making great sacrifices in 
the discharge of their patriotic duty to support the Government. 

Under these circumstances, I have been urgently solicited to establish, 
by military power, courts to administer summary justice in such cases. I 
have thus far declined to do it, not because I had any doubt that the end 
proposed — the collection of the debts — was just and right in itself, but 
because I have been unwilling to go beyond the pressure of necessity in 
the unusual exercise of power. But the powers of Congress, I suppose, 
are equal to the anomalous occasion, and therefore I refer the whole mat- 
ter to Congress, with the hope that a plan may be devised for the admin- 
istration of justice in all. such parts of the insurgent States and Territories 
as may be under the control of this Government, whether by a voluntary 
return to allegiance and order, or by the power of our arms; this, how- 
ever, not to be a permanent institution, but a temporary substitute, and 
to cease as soon as the ordinary courts can be re-established in peace. 

It is important tbat some more convenient means should be provided, 
if possible, for the adjustment of claims against the Government, espe- 
cially in view of their increased number by reason of the war. It is as 
much the duty of Government to render prompt justice against itself, in 
favor of citizens, as 'it is to administer the same between private indi- 
viduals. The investigation and adjudication of claims, in their nature, 
belong to the judicial department; besides, it is apparent that the atten- 
tion of Congress will be more than usually engaged, for some time to 
come, with great national questions. It was intended, by the organiza- 
tion of the Court of Claims, mainly to remove this branch of business 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 219 

from the halls of Congress ; but while the court has proved to he an ef- 
fective and valuable means of investigation, it in great degree fails to effect 
the object of its creation, for want of power to make its judgments final. 
Fully aware of the delicacy, not to say the danger, of the subject, I com- 
mend to your careful consideration whether this power of making judg- 
ments final may not properly be given to the court, reserving the right 
of appeal on questions of law tp the Supreme Court, with such other 
provisions as experience may have shown to be necessary. 

I ask attention to the report of the Postmaster-General, tne following 
being a summary statement of the condition of the department : 

The revenue from all sources during the fiscal year ending June 80, 
1S61, including the annual permanent appropriation of seven hundred 
thousand dollars for the transportation of "free mail matter," was nine 
million forty-nine thousand two hundred and ninety-six dollars and forty 
cents, being about two per cent, less than the revenue for 1860. 

The expenditures were thirteen million six hundred and six thousand 
seven hundred and fifty-nine dollars and eleven cents, showing a decrease 
of more than eight per cent, as compared with those of the previous year, 
and leaving an excess of expenditure over the revenue for the last fiscal 
year of four million five hundred and fifty-seven thousand four hundred 
and sixty-two dollars and seventy-one cents. 

The gross revenue for the year ending June 30, 1863, is estimated at an 
increase of four per cent, on that of 1861, making eight million six hun- 
dred and eighty-three thousand dollars, to which should be added the 
earnings of the department in carrying free matter, viz., seven hundred 
thousand dollars, making nine million three hundred and eighty-three 
thousand dollars. 

The .total expenditures for 1863 are estimated at twelve million five 
hundred and twenty-eight thousand dollars, leaving an estimated defi- 
ciency of three million one hundred and forty-five thousand dollars tp be 
supplied from the Treasury, in addition to the permanent appropriation. 

The present insurrection shows, I think, that the extension of this dis- 
trict across the Potomac River, at the time of establishing the Capital 
here, was eminently wise, and consequently that the relinquishment of 
that portion of it which lies within the State of Virginia was unwise and 
dangerous. I submit for your consideration the expediency of regaining 
that part of the district, and the restoration of the original boundaries 
thereof, through negotiations with the State of Virginia. 

The report of the Secretary of the Interior, with the accompanying 
documents, exhibits the condition of the several branches of the publie 
business pertaining to that department. The depressing influences of the 
insurrection have been especially felt in the operations of the Patent and 
General Land Offices. The cash receipts from the sales of public lands 
during the past year have exceeded the expenses of our land system only 
about two hundred thousand dollars. The sales have been entirely sus- 



220 The Life, Public Services, and 

ponded in the Southern States, while the interruptions to the business of 
the country, and the diversion of large numbers of men from labor to 
military service, have obstructed settlements in the new States and Terri- 
tories of the Northwest. 

The receipts of the Patent Office have declined in nine months about 
one hundred thousand dollars, rendering a large reduction of the force 
employed necessary to make it self-sustaining. 

The demands upon the Pension Office will be largely increased by the 
insurrection. Numerous applications for pensions, based upon the casual- 
ties of the existing war, have already been made. There is reason to 
believe that many who are now upon the pension rolls, and in receipt of 
the bounty of the Government, are in the ranks of the insurgent army, or 
giving them aid and comfort. The Secretary of the Interior has directed 
a suspension of the payment of the pensions of such persons upon proof 
of their disloyalty. I recommend that Congress authorize that officer to 
cause tha names of such persons to be stricken from the pension rolls. 

The relations of the Government with the Indian tribes hare been 
greatly disturbed by the insurrection, especially in the southern superin- 
tendency and in that of New Mexico. The Indian country south of Kansas 
is in the possession of insurgents from Texas and Arkansas. The agents 
of the United States appointed since the 4th of March for this superin 
tendency have been unable to reach their posts, while the most of those 
who were in office before that time have espoused the insurrectionary 
cause, and assume to exercise the powers of agents by virtue of commis- 
sions from the insurrectionists. It has been stated in the public press that 
a portion of those Indians have been organized as a military force, and 
are attached to the army of the insurgents. Although the Government 
has no official information upon this subject, letters have been written to 
the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by several prominent chiefs, giving 
assurance of their loyalty to the United States, and expressing a wish for 
the presence of Federal troops to protect them. It is believed that upon 
the repossession of the country by the Federal forces, the Indians will 
readily cease all hostile demonstrations, and resume their former relations 
to the Government. 

Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the nation, has not a 
department, nor a bureau, but a clerkship only, assigned to it in the Gov- 
ernment. While it is fortunate that this great interest is so independent 
in its nature as to not have demanded and extorted more from the Gov- 
ernment, I respectfully ask Congress to consider whether something more 
cannot be given voluntarily with general advantage. 

Annual reports exhibiting the condition of our agriculture, commerce, 
and manufactures, would present a fund of information of great practical 
value to the country. While I make no suggestion as to details, I ven- 
ture the opinion that an agricultural and statistical bureau might protifc- 
aUy be organized. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 221 

The execution of the laws for the suppression of the African slave-trade 
has heen confided to the Department of the Interior. It is a subject of grat- 
ulation that the efforts which have been made for the suppression of this 
inhuman traffic have been recently attended with unusual success. Five 
vessels being fitted out for the slave-trade have been seized and con- 
demned. Two mates of vessels engaged in the trade, and one person in 
equipping a vessel as a slaver, have been convicted and subjected to tho 
penalty of fine and imprisonment, and one captain, taken with a cargo of 
Africans on board his vessel, has been convicted of the highest grade of 
offence under our laws, the punishment of which is death. 

The Territories of Colorado, Dakotah, and Nevada, created by the last 
Congress, have been organized, and civil administration has been inau- 
gurated therein under auspices especially gratifying, when it is considered 
that the leaven of treason was found existing in some of these new coun 
tries when the Federal officers arrived there. 

The abundant natural resources of these Territories, with the security 
and protection afforded by organized government, will doubtless invite to 
them a large immigration when peace shall restore the business of the 
country to its accustomed channels. I submit the resolutions of the Legis- 
lature of Colorado, which evidence the patriotic spirit of the people of 
the Territory. So far the authority of the United States has been upheld in 
all the Territories, as it is hoped it will be in the future. I commend their 
interests and defence to the enlightened and generous care of Congress. 

I recommend to the favorable consideration of Congress the interests 
of the District of Columbia. The insurrection has been the cause of 
much suffering and sacrifice to its inhabitants, and as they have no rep- 
resentative in Congress, that body should not overlook their just claims 
upon the Government. 

At your late session a joint resolution was adopted authorizing _ the 
President to take measures for facilitating a proper representation of the 
industrial interests of the United States at the exhibition of the industry 
of all nations to be holden at London in the year 18G2. I regret to say 
I have been unable to give personal attention to this subject — a subject at 
once so interesting in itself, and so extensively and intimately connected 
with the material prosperity of the world. Through the Secretaries of 
State and of the Interior a plan or system has been devised and partly 
matured, and which will be laid before you. 

Under and by virtue of the act of Congress entitled "An jict to con- 
fiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes," approved August 6, 
1861, the legal claims of certain persons to the labor and service of cer- 
tain other persons have become forfeited; and numbers of the latter, thus 
liberated, are already dependent on the United States, and must be pro- 
vided for in some way. Besides this, it is not impossible that some of the 
States will pass similar enactments for their own benefit respectively, 
and by operation of which persons of the same class will be thrown upon 



222 The Life, Public Services, and 



them for disposal. In such case, I recommend that Congress provide for 
accepting such persons from such States, according to somo mode of val- 
uation, in lieu, pro tant.o, of direct taxes, or upon some other plan to he 
agreed on with such States respectively ; that such persons, on such ac- 
ceptance by the General Government, be at once deemed free; and that, 
in any event, steps be taken for colonizing both classes (or the one first 
mentioned, if the other shall not be brougbt into existence) at some place 
or places in a climate congenial to them. It might be well to consider, 
too, whether the free colored people already in the United States could 
not, so far as individuals may desire, be included in such colonization. 

To carry out the plan of colonization may involve the acquiring of ter- 
ritory, and also the appropriation of money beyond that to be expended 
in the territorial acquisition. Having practised the acquisition of ter- 
ritory for nearly sixty years, tbe question of constitutional power to do 
so is no longer an open one with us. The power was questioned at first 
by Mr. Jefferson, who, however, in the purchase of Louisiana, yielded bis 
scruples on the plea of great expediency. If it be said that the only 
legitimate object of acquiring territory is to furnish homes for white men, 
this measure effects that object; for the emigration of colored men leaves 
additional room for white men remaining or coming here. Mr. Jefferson, 
however, placed the importance of procuring Louisiana more on political 
and commercial grounds than on providing room for population. 

On this whole proposition, including the appropriation of money with 
the acquisition of territory, does not tbe expediency amount to absolute 
necessity — that, without which the Government itself cannot be perpet- 
uated ? 

The war continues. In considering the policy to be adopted for sup- 
pressing the insurrection, I have been anxious and careful that the inev- 
itable conflict for this purpose shall not degenerate into a violent and 
remorseless revolutionary struggle. 

In the exercise of my best discretion, I have adhered to the blockade of 
the ports held by the insurgents, instead of putting in force by proclama- 
tion the law of Congress enacted at the late session for closing those ports. 

So, also, obeying the dictates of prudence, as well as the obligations 
of law, instead of transcending I have adhered to the act of Congress to 
confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes. If a new law 
upon the same subject shall be proposed, its propriety will be duly con- 
sidered. The Union must be preserved; and hence all indispensable 
means must be employed. We should not be in haste to determine that 
radical and extreme measures, which may reach the loyal as well as the 
disloyal, are indispensable. 

The inaugural address at the beginning of the Administration, and 
the message to Congress at the late special session, were both mainly 
devoted to the domestic controversy out of which the insurrection and 
consequent war have sprung. Nothing now occurs to add or subtract 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 223 

to oi - from the principles or general purposes stated and expressed in those 
documents. 

The last ray of hope for preserving the Union peaceably expired at 
the assault upon Fort Sumter; and a general review of what has oc- 
curred since may not be unprofitable. What was painfully uncertain 
then is much better defined and more distinct now ; and the progress of 
events is plainly in the right direction. The insurgents confidently 
claimed a strong support from north of Mason and Dixon's line; and the 
friends of the Union were not free from apprehension on the point. 
This, however, was soon settled definitely, and on the right side. South 
of the line, noble little Delaware led off right from the first. Maryland 
was made to seem against the Union. Our soldiers were assaulted., 
bridges were burned, and railroads torn up within her limits; and we 
were many days, at one time, without the ability to bring a single regi- 
ment over her soil to the Capital. Now her bridges and railroads are 
repaired and open to the Government ; she already gives seven regiments 
to the cause of the Union, and none to the enemy; and her people, at a 
regular election, have sustained the Union by a larger majority and a 
larger aggregate vote than they ever before gave to any candidate or 
any question. Kentucky, too, for some time in doubt, is now decidedly, 
and, I think, unchangeably ranged on the side of the Union. Missouri 
is comparatively quiet, and, I believe, cannot again be overrun by the 
insurrectionists. These three States of Maryland, Kentucky, and Mis- 
souri, neither of which would promise a single soldier at first, have now 
an aggregate of not less than forty thousand in the field for the Union ; 
while of their citizens, certainly not more than a third of that number, 
and they of doubtful whereabouts and doubtful existence, are in arms 
against it. After a somewhat bloody struggle of months, winter closes* 
on the Union people of Western Virginia, leaving them masters of their 
own country. 

An insurgent force of about fifteen hundred, for months dominating 
the narrow peninsular region constituting the counties of Accomac and 
Northampton, and known as Eastern Shore of Virginia, together with 
some contiguous parts of Maryland, have laid down their arms ; and the 
people there have renewed their allegiance to, and accepted the protec- 
tion of, the old flag. This leaves no armed insurrectionist north of the 
Potomac, or east of the Chesapeake. 

Also we have obtained a footing at each of the isolated points on the 
southern coast of Uatteras, Port Royal, Tybee Island, near Savannah, 
and Ship Island; and we likewise have some general accounts of popular 
movements in behalf of the Union in North Carolina and Tennessee. 

These things demonstrate that the cause of the Union is advancing 
steadily and certainly southward. 

Since your last adjournment Lieuten ant-General Scott lias retired from 
the head of the army. During his Ions' life the nation has not been un- 



224 The Life, Public Services, and 

mindful of his merit ; yet, on calling to mind Low faithfully, ably. an«3 
brilliantly he has served the country, from a time far back in our history, 
when few of the now living had been bom, and thenceforward contin- 
ually, I cannot but think we are still his debtors. I submit, therefore, for 
your consideration what further mark of recognition is due to him, aud 
to ourselves as a grateful people. 

With the retirement of General Scott came the executive duty of ap- 
pointing in his stead a general-in-chief of the army. It is a fortunate 
circumstance that neither in council nor country was there, so far as I 
know, any difference of opinion as to the proper person to be selected. 
The retiring chief repeatedly expressed his judgment in favor of General 
IfcClellan for the position ; and in this the nation seemed to give a 
unanimous concurrence. The designation of General McCIellau is, there- 
fore, in considerable degree, the selection of the country as well as of 
the Executive; and hence there is better reason to hope there will be 
given him the confidence and cordial support thus, by fair implication, 
promised, and without which he cannot, with so full efficiency, serve the 
country. 

It has been said that one bad general is better than two good ones; 
and the saying is true, if taken to mean no more thau that an array is 
better directed by a single mind, though inferior, than by two superior 
ones at variance and cross-purposes with oach other. 

And the same is true in all joint operations wherein those engaged can 
have none but a common end in view, and can differ only as to the choice 
of means. In a storm at sea, no one on hoard can wish the ship to sink ; 
and yet not unfrequently all go down together, because too many wj.ll 
direct, and no single mind can be allowed to control. 

It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not exclu- 
sively, a war upon the first principle of popular government — the rights 
of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most grave and 
maturely-considered public documents, as well as in the general tone of 
the insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of the exist- 
ing right of suffrage, and the denial to the people of all right to partici- 
pate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, boldly 
advocated, with labored arguments to prove that large control of the 
people in government is the source of all political evil. Monarchy itself 
is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people. 

In my present position, I could scarely be justified were I to omit rais- 
ing a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism. 

It is not needed, nor fitting here, that a general argument should be 
made in favor of popular institutions ; but there is one point, with its 
connections, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief at- 
tention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not 
above, labor, in the structure of government. It is assumed that labor 13 
available only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless some- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 225 

body else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor. 
Tins assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that capital shall 
hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy 
them, and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded so 
far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers, or 
what we call slaves. And further, it is assumed that whoever is once a 
hired laborer is fixed in that condition for life. 

Now, there is no such relation between capital and labor as assumed; 
nor is there any such thing as a free man being fixed for life in the con- 
dition of a hired laborer. Both these assumptions are false, and all in- 
ferences from them are groundless. 

Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit 
of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. 
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher considera- 
tion. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any 
other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, 
a relation between labor and capital, producing mutual benefits. The 
error is in assuming that the whole labor of community exists within that 
relation. A few men own capital, and those few avoid labor themselves, 
and, with their capital, hire or buy another few to labor for them. A 
large majoitry belong to neither class — neither work for others, nor have 
others working for them. In most of the Southern States, a majority of 
the whole people of all colors are neither slaves nor masters ; while in 
the Northern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men, with 
their families — wives, sons, and daughters — work for themselves on their 
farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to 
themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hired 
laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable 
number of persons mingle their own labor with capital — that is, they 
labor with their own hands, and also buy or hire others to labor for them; 
but this is only a mixed, and not a distinct class. No principle stated is 
disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. 

Again : as has already been said, there is not of necessity any such 
thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life. Many 
independent men everywhere in these States, a few years back in their 
lives, were hired laborers. The prudent, penniless beginner in the world 
labors for wages a while, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land 
for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at length 
hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and generous, 
and prosperous system, which opens the way to all, gives hope to all, and 
consequent energy, and progress, and improvement of condition to all. 
No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from 
poverty — none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not 
honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power 
which they already possess, and which, if surrendered, will surely bo nsed 
15 



226 The Life, Public Services, axd 

to close the door of advancement against such as they, and to fix new dis- 
abilities and burdens upon them, till all of liberty shall be lost. 

From the first taking of our national census to the last are seventy 
years; and we find our population, at the end of the period, eight times 
as great as it was at the beginning. The increase of those other things ■ 
which men deem desirable has been even greater. We thus have, at one 
view, what the popular principle, applied to Government through the 
machinery of the States and the Union, has produced in a given time; 
and also what, if firmly maintained, it promises for the future. There 
are already among us those who, if the Union be preserved, will live to 
see it contain two hundred and fifty millions. TJie struggle of to-day is 
not altogether for to-day ; it is for a vast future also. Willi a reliance on 
Providence, all the more firm and earnest, let us proceed in the great task 
which events have devolved upon us. . Abraham Lincoln. 

The actual condition of the country and the progress 
of the war, at the opening of the session, are wry clearly 
stated in this document ; and the principles upon which 
the President had based his conduct of public affairs are 
set forth with great distinctness and precision. On the 
subject of interfering with slavery, the President had 
adhered strictly to the letter and spirit of the act passed 
by Congress at its extra session ; but he very distinctly 
foresaw that it might become necessary, as a means of 
quelling the rebellion and preserving the Union, to resort 
to a much more vigorous policy than was contemplated 
by that act. While he threw out a timely caution against 
undue haste in the adoption of extreme measures, he 
promised full and careful consideration of an}^ new law 
which Congress might consider it wise and expedient to 
pass. 

It very soon became evident that Congress was dis- 
posed to make very considerable advances upon the 
legislation of the extra session. The resistance of the 
rebels had been more vigorous and effective than was 
anticipated, and the defeat at Bull Run had exasperated 
as well as aroused the public mind. The forbearance of 
the Government in regard to slavery had not only failed 
to soften the hostility of the rebels, but had been rep- 
resented to Europe by the rebel authorities as proving 
a determination on the part of the United States to protect 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 227 

and perpetuate slavery by restoring the authority of the 
Constitution which guaranteed its safety ; and the acts of 
the extra session, especially the Crittenden resolution, 
defining and limiting the objects of the war, were quoted 
in rebel dispatches to England for that purpose. It was 
known, also, that within the lines of the rebel army slaves 
were freely employed in the construction of fortifications, 
and that they contributed in this and other ways very 
largely to the strength of the insurrection. The whole 
country, under the influence of these facts, began to re- 
gard slavery as not only the cause of the rebellion, but 
as the main strength of its armies and the bond of union 
for the rebel forces ; — and Congress, representing and 
sharing this feeling, entered promptly and zealously upon 
such measures as it would naturally suggest. Resolu- 
tions at the very outset of the session were offered, call- 
ing on the President to emancipate slaves whenever and 
wherever such action would tend to weaken the rebel- 
lion ; and the general policy of the Government upon this 
subject became the theme of protracted and animated 
debate. The orders issued by the generals of the army, 
especially McClellan, Halleck, and Dix, by which fugi- 
tive slaves were prohibited from coming within the army 
lines, were severely censured. All the resolutions upon 
these topics were, however, referred to appropriate com- 
mittees, generally without specific instructions as to the 
character of their action upon them. 

Early in the session a strong disposition was evinced in 
some quarters to censure the Government for its arbitrary 
arrests of persons in the loyal States, suspected of aiding 
the rebels, its suppression of disloyal presses, and other 
acts which it had deemed essential to the safety of the 
country ; and a sharp debate took place in the Senate 
upon a resolution of inquiry and implied censure offered 
by Mr. Trumbull, of Illinois. The general feeling, how- 
ever, was so decidedly in favor of sustaining the Presi- 
dent, that the resolution was referred to the Judiciary 
Committee, by a vote of twenty-five to seventeen. 

On the 19th of December, in the Senate, a debate on 



228 The Life, Public Services, and 

the relation of slavery to the rebellion arose upon a reso- 
lution offered by Mr. Willey, of West Virginia, who con- 
tested the opinion that slavery was the cause of the war, 
and insisted that the rebellion had its origin in the 
hostility of the Southern political leaders to the demo- 
cratic principle of government ; he believed that when 
the great body of the Southern people came to see the 
real purpose and aim of the rebellion, they would with- 
draw their support, and restore the Union. No action 
was taken on the resolution, which merely gave occasion 
for debate. A resolution was adopted in the House, 
forbidding the employment of the army to return fugitive 
slaves to their owners ; and a bill was passed in both 
Houses, declaring that hereafter there shall be "neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the Territories 
of the United States, now existing, or which may at any 
time be formed or acquired by the United States, other- 
wise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted." 

In the Senate, on the 18th of March, a bill was taken 
up to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia ; and 
an amendment was offered, directing that those thus set 
free should be colonized out of the United States. The 
policy of colonization was fully discussed in connection 
with the general subject, the senators from the Border 
States opposing the bill itself, mainly on grounds of 
expediency, as calculated to do harm under the existing 
circumstances of the country. The bill was passed, with 
an amendment appropriating money to be used by the 
President in colonizing such of the emancipated slaves as 
might wish to leave the country. It received in the 
Senate twenty-nine votes in its favor and fourteen against 
it. In the House it passed by a vote of ninety-two to 
thirty-eight. 

President Lincoln sent in the following message, an- 
nouncing his approval of the bill : — 

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and IIouse of Representatives : 
The act entitled " An act for the release of certain persons held to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 229 

service or labor iu tlie District of Columbia," lias this day been approved 
and signed. 

I have never doubted the constitutional authority of Congress to abol- 
ish slavery in this District ; and I have ever desired to see the national 
capital freed from the institution in some satisfactory way. Hence there 
has never been in my mind any question upon the subject except the one 
of expediency, arising in view of all the circumstances. If there be mat- 
ters within and about this act which might have taken a course or shape 
more satisfactory to my judgment, I do not attempt to specify them. I 
am gratified that the two principles of compensation and colonization are 
both recognized and practically applied iu the act. 

In the matter of compensation, it is provided that claims may be pre- 
sented within ninety days from the passage of the act, " but not there- 
after ; " and there is no saving for minors, femmes covert, insane, or absent 
persons. I presume this is an omission by mere oversight, and I recom- 
mend that it be supplied by an amendatory or supplemental act. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

April 16, 1862. 

On the 6th of March, the President sent to Congress 
the following message on the subject of aiding such 
slaveholding States as might take measures to emancipate 
their slaves : . . 

"WASnixcToy, March 6, 1S62. 

Fellow-Citizens of TnE Senate and LTorsE of Representatives : 

I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable 
body, which shall be, substantially, as follows : 

Resolved, That the United States, in order to co-operate with any State 
which may adopt gradual abolition of slavery, give to such State pecu- 
niary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to compensate it for 
the inconvenience, public and private, produced by such change of sys- 
tem. 

If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the ap- 
proval of Congress and the country, there is an end of it. But if it does 
command such approval, I deem it of importance that the States and 
people immediately interested should be at once distinctly notified of the 
fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. 

The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a meas- 
ure as one of the most important means of self-preservation. The lead- 
ers of the existing rebellion entertain the hope that this Government will 
ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of 
the disaffected region, and that all the slave States north of such part 
will then say, "The Union for which we have struggled being already 
gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section." To deprive 



230 The Life, Public Services, and 

them of tliis Lope substantially ends the rebellion ; and the initiation oJ 
emancipation deprives them of it, and of all the States initiating it. 

The point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, 
if at all, initiate emancipation ; but while the offer is equally made to all, 
the more Northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to the moro 
Southern that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their 
proposed Confederacy. I say initiation, because, in my judgment, grad- 
ual and not sudden emancipation is better for all. 

In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress with 
the census or an abstract of the Treasury report before him, can readilj 
see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this war would 
purchase, at a fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State. 

Such a proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no 
claim of a right by the Federal authority to interfere with slavery within 
State limits — referring as it does the absolute control of the subject, in 
each case, to the State and the people immediately interested. It is pro- 
posed as a matter of perfectly free choice to them. 

In the Annual Message last December, I thought fit to say " the Unioi 
must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed.' 
I said this, not hastily, but deliberately. "War has been made, and con 
tinues to be an indispensable means to this end. A practical reacknowl 
edgment of the national authority would render the war unnecessary, 
and it would at once cease. But resistance continues, and the war must 
also continue ; and it is impossible to foresee all the incidents which may 
attend, and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indis- 
pensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency towards ending the 
struggle, must and will come. 

The proposition now made (though an offer only), I hope it may be es- 
teemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered 
would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned 
than would the institution and property in it, in the present aspect of 
affairs. While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution 
would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it 
is recommended in the hope that it would lead to important practical 
results. 

In full view of my great responsibility to my God and my country, I 
earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject. 

Abraham Lincoln'. 

This Message indicates very clearly the tendency of the 
President's reflections upon the general relations of 
slavery to the rebellion. He had most earnestly endeav- 
ored to arouse the people of the Southern States to a 
contemplation of the fact that, if they persisted in their 
effort to overthrow the Government of the United States, 



State Papers of Abraham Llnooln. 231 

the fate of slavery would sooner or later inevitably lie in- 
volved in the conflict. The time was steadily approach- 
ing when, in consequence of their obstinate persistence in 
the rebellion, this result would follow ; and the President, 
' with wise forethought, sought anxiously to reconcile the 
shock which the contest would involve, with the order of 
the country and the permanent prosperity of all classes of 
the people. The general feeling of the country at that 
time was in harmony with this endeavor. The people 
were still disposed to exhaust every means which justice 
would sanction, to withdraw the people of the Southern 
States from the disastrous war into which they had been 
plunged by their leaders, and they welcomed this sugges- 
tion of the President as likely to produce that result, if 
any effort in that direction could. 

In pursuance of the recommendation of the Message, 
Mr. R. Conkling, of New York, introduced, in the House 
of Representatives, on the 10th of March, the following 
resolution : — 

Resolved by the Senate and Jlovse of Representatives of the United 
States in Congress assembled, That the United States ought to co-operato 
with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving 
to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to 
compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such 
a change of system. 

The debate on this resolution illustrated the feelings of 
the country on the subject. It was vehemently opposed 
by the sympathizers with secession from both sections, as 
an unconstitutional interference with slavery, and hesita- 
tingly supported by the anti-slavery men of the North, as 
less decided in its hostility than they had a right to ex- 
pect. The sentiment of the more moderate portion of the 
community was expressed by Mr. Fisher, of Delaware, 
who regarded it as an olive-branch of peace and harmony 
and good faith presented by the North, and as well calcu- 
lated to bring about a peaceful solution and settlement of 
the slavery question. It was adopted in the House by a 
vote of eighty-nine to thirty-one. Coming up in the 



232 The Life, Public Services, and 



Senate on the 24th of March, it was denounced in strong 
terms by Mr. Saulsbury, of Delaware, and others — Mr. 
Davis, of Kentucky, opposing the terms in which it was 
couched, but approving its general tenor. It subse- 
quently passed, receiving thirty-two votes in its favor, 
and but ten against it. This resolution was approved by 
the President on the 10th of April. It was generally re- 
garded by the people and by the President himself as 
rather an experiment than as a fixed policy — as intended 
to test the temper of the people of the Southern Statesv 
and offer them a way of escape from the evils and embar- 
rassments 'with which slavery ha # d surrounded them, 
rather than set forth a distinct line of conduct which was 
to be pressed upon the country at all hazards. This char- 
acter, indeed, was stamped upon it by the fact that its 
practical execution was made to depend wholly on the 
people of the Southern States themselves. It recognized 
their complete control over slavery, within their own 
limits, and simply tendered them the aid of the General 
Government in any steps they might feel inclined to take 
to rid themselves of it. 

The President was resolved that the experiment should 
have a full and a fair trial ; and while he would not, on 
the one hand, permit its effect to be impaired by the nat- 
ural impatience of those among his friends who were 
warmest and most extreme in their hostility to slavery, 
he, on the other hand, lost no opportunity to press the 
proposition on the favorable consideration of the people 
of the Border Slave States. 

On the 9th of May, General Hunter, who commanded 
the Department of South Carolina, which included also 
the States of Georgia and Florida, issued an order declar- 
ing all the slaves within that department to be thence 
forth and " forever free." This was done, not from any 
alleged military necessity growing out of the operations 
in his department, but upon a theoretical incompatibility 
between slavery and martial law. The President there- 
upon at once issued the following proclamation :— 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 233 

Whereas, There nppears in the public prints what purports to be a 
proclamation of Major-General Hunter, in the words and figures follow- 
ing :— 

IlKAD-QtTAP.TEKS T>KPAKTMENT OF TTIF. SorTIT, ) 

Hilton Ukad, S. C, May 9, 1SG2. f 
, General Order, Ko. 11. 

The three States of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, comprising 
the Military Department of the South, having deliberately declared them- 
selves no longer under the United States of America, and having taken 
up arms against the United States, it becomes a military necessity to de- 
clare them under martial law. „ 

Tins was accordingly done on the 25th day of April, 1862. Slavery and 
martial law in a free country are altogether incompatible. The persons 
in these States — Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina — heretofore held 
as slaves, are therefore declared forever free. 

[Official.] 

Signed, David HmyTEii, 

Major-General Commanding. 

Ed. "W. SiiiTn, Acting Assistant Adj't-General. 

And, ichereas, the same is producing some excitement and misunder- 
standing, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
proclaim and declare that the Government of the United States had no 
knowledge or belief of an intention on the part of General Hunter to is- 
sue such proclamation, nor has it yet any authentic information that the 
document is genuine ; and, further, that neither General Hunter nor any 
other commander or person has been authorized by the Government of 
the United States to make proclamation declaring the slaves of any State 
free, and that the supposed proclamation now in question, whether genu- 
ine or false, is altogether void so far as respects such declaration. I fur- 
ther make known that, whether it be competent for me, as Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army and Navy, to declare the slaves of any State or 
States free ; and whether at any time, or in any case, it shall have become 
a necessity indispensable to the maintenance of the Government to exer- 
cise such supposed power, are questions which, under my responsibility, 
I reserve to myself, and which I cannot feel justified in leaving to the de- 
cision of commanders in the field. 

These are totally ditferent questions from those of police regulations in 
armies or in camps. 

On the sixth day of March last, by a special Message, I recommended 
to Congress the adoption of a joint resolution, to bo substantially as 
follows : — 

Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State 
which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State 
earnest expression to compensate for its inconveniences, public and pri- 
_ vate, produced by such change of system. 

The resolution in the language above quoted was adopted by large ma- 
jorities in both branches of Congress, and now stands an authentic, defi- 
nite, and solemn proposal of the Nation to the States and people most \b 



234 The Life, Public Services, and 

terested in the subject-matter. To the people of these States now, I 
mostly appeal. I do not argue — I beseech you to make the arguments 
for yourselves. You cannot, if you would, be blind to the signs of the 
times. 

I beg of you a calm and enlarged consideration of them, ranging, if it 
may be, far above partisan and personal politics. 

This proposal makes common cause for a common object, casting no 
reproaches upon any. It acts not the Pharisee. The change it contem- 
plates would come gently as the dews of Heaven, not rending or wreck- 
ing any thin*. Will you not embrace it? So much good has not been 
done by one effort in all past time, as in the providence of God it h now 
your high privilege to do. May the vast future not have to lament that 
you have neglected it. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused tJr.e seal 
of the United States to be hereunto affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this 19th day of May, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the inde- 
pendence of the United States the eighty-sixth. 

(Signed) Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : 

W. II. Sewakd, Secretary of State. 

This proclamation silenced the clamorous denunciation 
by which its enemies had assailed the Administration on 
the strength of General Hunter's order, and renewed the 
confidence, which for the moment had been somewhat 
impaired, in the President's adherence to the principles 
of action he had laid down. Nothing practical, however, 
was done in any of the Border States indicating any dis- 
position to act upon his suggestions and avail themselves 
of the aid which Congress had offered. The members of 
Congress from those States had taken no steps towards 
inducing action in regard to it on the part of their con 
stituents. Feeling the deepest interest in the adoption 
of some measure which should permanently detach the 
Border Slave States from the rebel Confederacy, and 
believing that the plan he had recommended would tend 
to accomplish that object, President Lincoln sought a 
conference with the members of Congress from those 
States, and on the 12th of July, when they waited upon 
him at the Executive mansion, he addressed them as 
follows : — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 235 

Gesti.emex: — After the adjournment of Congress, now near, I shall 
have no opportunity of seeing you for several months. Believing that 
vou of the Border States hold more power for good than any other equal 
number of members, I feel it a duty which I cannot justifiably waive to 
make this appeal to you. 

I intend no reproach or complaint when I assure you that, in my opin- 
ion, if you all bad voted for the resolution in the gradual emancipation 
Message of last March, the Avar would now be substantially ended. And 
the plan therein proposed is yet one of the most potent and swift means 
of ending it. Let the States which are in rebellion see definitely and cer- 
tainly that in no event will the States you represent ever join their pro- 
posed Confederacy, and they cannot much longer maintain the contest. 
But you cannot divest them of their hope to ultimately have you with 
them so long as you show a determination to perpetuate the institution 
within your own States. Beat them at elections, as you have over- 
whelmingly done, and, nothing daunted, they still claim you as their own. 
You and I know what the lever of their power is. Break that lever 
before their faces, and they can shake you no more forever. 

Most of you have treated me with kindness and consideration, and I 
trust you will not now think I improperly touch what is exclusively your 
own, when, for the sake of the whole country, I ask, Can you, for your 
States, do better than to take the course I urge? Discarding punctilio 
and maxims adapted to more manageable times, and looking only to the 
unprecedentedly stern facts of our case, can you do better in any possible 
event? You prefer that the constitutional relation of the States to the 
nation shall be practically restored without disturbance of the institution : 
and if this were done, my whole duty, in this respect, under the Consti- 
tution and my oath of office, would be performed. But it is not done, 
and we are trying to accomplish it by war. The incidents of the war 
cannot be avoided. If the war continues long, as it must if the object be 
not sooner attained, the institution in your States will be extinguished by 
mere friction and abrasion — by the mere incidents of the war. It will be 
gone, and you will have nothing valuable in lieu of it. Much of its value 
is gone already. How much better for you and for your people to take 
the step which at once shortens the war, and secures substantial compen- 
sation for that which is sure to be wholly lost in any other event! LTow 
much better to thus save the money which else we sink forever in the 
war! LTow much better to do it while we can, lest the war ere long 
render us pecuniarily unable to do it! How much better for you, as 
seller, and the nation, as buyer, to sell out and buy out that without 
which the war could never have been, than to sink both the thing to be 
sold and the price of it in cutting one another's throats ! 

I do not speak of emancipation at once, but of a decision at once to 
emancipate gradually. Room in South America for colonization can bo 
obtained cheaply, and in abundance, and when numbers shad be large 



236 The Life, Public Services, ant 

enough to be company and encouragement for one another, the freed 
people will not be so reluctant to go. 

I am pressed with a difficulty not yet mentioned — one which threatens 
division among thosa who, united, are none too strong. An instance of 
it is known to you. General Hunter is an honest man. He was, and I 
hope still is, my friend. I valued him none the less for his agreeing with 
me in the general wish that all men everywhere could be free. He pro- 
claimed all men free within certain States, and I repudiated the procla- 
mation. Ho expected more good and less harm from the measure than I 
could believe would follow. Yet, in repudiating it, I gave dissatisfaction, 
if not offence, to many whose support the country cannot afford to lose. 
And this is not the end of it. The pressure in this direction is still upon 
me, and is increasing. By conceding what I now ask you can relieve me, 
and, much more, can relieve the country in this important point. 

Upon these considerations, I have again begged your attention to the 
Message of March last. Before leaving the Capital, consider and discuss 
it among yourselves. You are patriots and statesmen, and as such I pray 
you consider this proposition; and, at the least, commend it to the con- 
sideration of your States and people. As you would perpetuate popular 
government for the best people in the world, I beseech you that you do 
in nowise omit this. Our common country is in great peril, demanding 
the loftiest views and boldest action to bring a speedy relief. Once 
relieved, its form of government is saved to the world; its beloved his- 
tory and cherished memories are vindicated, and its happy future fully 
assured and rendered inconceivably grand. To you, more than to any 
others, the privilege is given to assure that happiness and swell that 
grandeur, and to link your own names therewith forever. 

The members to whom the President thus appealed 
were divided in opinion as to the merits of the proposi- 
tion which he had laid before them. A majority of them 
submitted an elaborate reply, in which they dissented 
from the President's opinion that the adoption of this 
policy would terminate the war or serve the Union cause. 
They held it to be his duty to avoid all interference, 
direct or indirect, with slavery ia the Southern States, 
and attributed much of the stubborn hostility which the 
South had shown in prosecuting the war, to the fact that 
Congress had departed in various instances from the 
spirit and objects for which the war ought to be prose- 
cuted by the Government. A minority of those mem- 
bers, not being able to concur in this rejxiy, submitted 
one of their own, in which they thus set forth their view 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 237 

of the motives of the President in the course he had 
adopted, and expressed their substantial concurrence in 
its justice and wisdom : — 

We believe that the whole power of the Government, xiphoid and sus- 
tained by all the influences and means of all loyal men in all sections and 
of all parties, is essentially necessary to put down the rebellion and preserve 
the Union and the Constitution. We understand your appeal to us to 
have been made for the purpose of securing this result. A very large 
portion of the people in the Northern States believe that slavery is the 
"lever power of the rebellion." It matters not whether this opinion 
is well founded or not. The belief does exist, and we have to deal with 
things as they are, and not as we would have them be. In consequence 
of the existence of this belief, we understand that an immense pressure is 
brought to bear for the purpose of striking down this institution through 
the exercise of military authority. The Government cannot maintain 
this great struggle if the support and influence of the men who entertain 
these opinions be withdrawn. Neither can the Government hope for 
early success if the support of that element called " conservative " be 
withdrawn. 

Such being the condition of things, the President appeals to the Border 
Stato men to step forward and prove their patriotism by making the first 
sacrifice. No doubt, like appeals have been made to extreme men in the 
North, to meet us half way, in order that the whole moral, political, 
pecuniary, and physical force of the nation may be firmly and earnestly 
united in one grand effort to save the Union and the Constitution. 

Believing that such were the motives that prompted your address, and 
such the results to which it looked, we cannot reconcile it to our sense of 
duty, in this trying hour, to respond in a spirit of fault-finding or queru- 
lousness over the things that are past. Wc are not disposed to seek for 
the cause of present misfortunes in the errors and wrongs of others who 
propose to unite with us in a common purpose. But, on the other hand, 
we meet your address in the spirit in which it was made, and, as loyal 
Americans, declare to you and to the world, that there is no sacrifice that 
we are not ready to make to save the Government and institutions of our 
fathers. . That we, few of us though there may be, will permit no men, 
from the North or from the South, to go further than we in the accom- 
plishment of the great work before us. That, in order to carry out these 
views, we will, so far as may be in our power, ask the people of the Bor- 
der States calmly, deliberately, and fairly, to consider your recommenda- 
tions. We are the more emboldened to assume this position from the 
fact, now become history, that the leaders of the Southern rebellion have 
offered to abolish slavery amongst them as a condition to foreign intei- 
vention iii favor of their independence as a nation. 

If they can give up slavery to destroy the Union, w T e can surely 



238 The Life, Public Services, ani» 

ask our people to consider the question of emancipate n to save the 
Union. 

Hon. Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, on the 16th of 
July submitted to the President his views of the ques- 
tion, in which he thus set forth his appreciation of the 
motives which had induced him to make the proposition 
in question to the Southern States : — 

Your whole administration gives the highest assurance that you are 
moved, not so much from a desire to see all men everywhere made free, 
as from a desire to preserve free institutions for the benefit of men 
already free; not to make slaves free men, but to prevent free men from 
being made slaves ; not to destroy an institution which a portion of us 
only consider bad, but to save an institution which we all alike consider 
good. I am satisfied that you would not ask from any of your fellow- 
citizens a sacrifice not in your judgment imperatively required by the 
safety cf the country. This is the spirit of your appeal, and I respond to 
it in the same spirit. 

Determined to leave undone nothing which it was in 
his power to do to effect the object he had so much at 
heart, the President, on the 12th of July, sent in to Con- 
gress a Message transmitting the draft of a hill upon the 
subject, as follows : — 

Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and Ilouse of Representatives : — 

Herewith is the draft of the bill to compensate any State which may 
abolish slavery within it's limits, tbe passage of which, substantially as 
presented, I respectfully and earnestly recommend. 

Abraham Lixcoi/sf. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Ilouse of Representatives of the Vnitea 
States of America in Congress assembled: — That whenever the President 
of tbe United States shall be satisfied that any State shall have lawfully 
abolished slavery within and throughout such State, either immediately 
or gradually, it shall be the duty of the President, assisted by the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, to prepare and deliver to each State an amount of 
bix per cent, interest-bearing bonds of the United States, equal to the ag- 
gregate value at dollars per head of all the slaves within such State 

as reported by the census of 1860; the whole amount for any one State 
to be delivered at once, if the abolishment be immediate, or in equal 
annual instalments, if it be gradual, interest to begin running on each 
bond at the time of delivery, and not before. 

And be it further enacted, That if any State, having so received any 
Buch bonds, shall at any time afterwards by law reintroduce or tolerate 
slavery within its limits, contrary to the act of abolishment upon which 
such bonds shall have been received, said bonds so received by said State 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 239 

shall at once Ijo nnll and void, in whosesoever hands they may lie, and snch 
State shall refund to the United States all interest which may have been 
paid on suen bonds. 

The "bill was referred to a committee, "but no action was 
taken upon it in Congress, nor did any of the Border 
States respond to the President's invitation. The propo- 
sition, however, served a most excellent purpose in test- 
ing the sentiment of both sections of the country, and in 
preparing the way for the more vigorous treatment of the 
subject of slavery which the blind and stubborn preju- 
dices of the slaveholding communities were rapidly ren- 
dering inevitable. 

Two other subjects of importance engaged the atten- 
tion and received the action of Congress during this ses- 
sion : the provision of a currency, and the amendment of 
the law to confiscate the property of rebels. A bill au- 
thorizing the issue of Treasury notes to the amount of 
$150,000,000, and making them a legal tender in all busi- 
ness transactions, was reported in the House by the Fi- 
nance Committee, of which Hon. E. G. Spaulding, of New 
York, was Chairman, and taken up for discussion on the 
17th of June. It was advocated mainly on the score of 
necessity, and was opposed on the ground of its alleged 
unconstitutionality. The division of sentiment on the 
subject was not a party one, some of the warmest friends 
and supporters of the Administration doubting whether 
Congress had the power to make any thing but silver and 
gold a legal tender in the payment of debts. The same 
bill provided for a direct tax, involving stamp duties, 
taxes upon incomes, etc., sufficient with the duties upon 
imports to raise $150,000,000 per annum, and also for the 
establishment of a system of free banking, by which bank- 
notes to be circulated as currency might be issued upon 
the basis of stocks of the United States deposited as secu- 
rity. The bill was discussed at length, and was finally 
adopted by a vote of ninety-three to fifty-nine. In the 
Senate it encountered a similar opposition, but passed by 
a vote of thirty to seven, a motion to strike out the legal- 
tender clause having been previously rejected— seven- 



240 The Life, Public Services, and 

teen voting in favor of striking it out, and twenty-two 
against it. 

Tlie subject of confiscating tlie property of rebels ex- 
cited still deeper interest. A bill for that purpose was 
taken up in the Senate, on the 25th of February, for dis- 
cussion. By one of its sections all the slaves of any per- 
son, anywhere in the United States, aiding the rebellion, 
were declared to be forever free, and subsequent sections 
provided for colonizing slaves thus enfranchised. The 
Tbill was advocated on the ground that in no other way 
could tlie property of rebels, in those States where the 
judicial authority of the United States had been over- 
borne, be reached ; while it was opposed on the ground 
that it was unconstitutional, and that it would tend to 
render the Southern people still more united and despe- 
rate in their rebellion. By the confiscation act of the pre- 
vious session, a slave who had been employed in aiding 
the rebellion was declared to be free, but the fact that he 
had been thus employed must be shown by due judicial 
process , by this bill all the slaves of any person who 
had been thus engaged were set free without the inter- 
vention of any judicial process whatever. This feature 
of the bill was warmly opposed by some of the ablest 
and most reliable of the supporters of the Administration, 
as a departure from all recognized rules of proceeding, 
and as a direct interference with slavery in the States, 
in violation of the most solemn pledge of the Govern- 
ment, the Republican party, and individual supporters 
of the Administration. Senator Collamer, of Vermont, 
urged this view of the case with great cogency, citing Mr. 
Sumner's opinion expressed on the 25th of February, 
1SG1, when, on presenting a memorial to the Senate in 
favor of abolishing slavery, he had added : "In offering 
it, I take this occasion to declare most explicitly that I 
do not think that Congress has any right to interfere with 
slavery in a State ;" and quoting also Senator Fessenden's 
declaration in the debate on abolishing slavery in the 
[District of Columbia, when he said: "I have held, and 
T hold to-day, and I say to-day what I have said in my 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 241 

place "before, that the Congress of the United States, or 
the people of the United States through the Congress, 
under the Constitution as it now exists, have no right 
whatever to touch by legislation the institution of slavery 
in the Slates where it exists by law." Mr.- Sherman's 
opinion, expressed in the same debate, that "we ought 
religiously to adhere to the promises we made to the peo- 
ple of this country when Mr. Lincoln was elected Presi- 
dent — -we ought to abstain religiously from all interfer- 
ence with the 'domestic institutions of the slave or the 
Free States," was also quoted, and Mr. Collamer said he 
did not see how it was possible to pass the bill in its 
present form without giving the world to understand that 
they had violated those pledges, and had interfered with 
slavery in the States. Mr. Collamer accordingly offered 
an amendment to the bill, obviating the objections he had 
urged against it ; and this, with other amendments offered 
by other Senators, was referred to a Select Committee, 
which subsequently reported a bill designed, as the 
Chairman, Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, explained, to 
harmonize the various shades of opinion upon the sub- 
ject, and secure the passage of some measure which 
should meet the expectations of the country and the 
emergency of the case. The first section of this bill pro- 
vided, that every person who should hereafter commit 
the crime of treason against the United States, and be 
adjudged guilty thereof, should suffer death, and all his 
slaves, if any, be declared and made free ; or he should 
be imprisoned not less than five years, and fined not less 
than $10,000, and all his slaves, if any, be declared and 
made free. 

The distinctive feature of this section, as distinguished 
from the corresponding section of the original bill, con- 
sisted in the fact that a trial and conviction were required 
before any person guilty of treason could be punished, 
either by death, imprisonment, or the forfeiture of his 
property. It was opposed, on the one hand, by Mr. Trum- 
bull, of Illinois, on the ground that it "made treason 
easy" — and on the other, by Mr. Davis, of Kentucky, 

16 



1 



242 The Life, Public Services, and 

because it set slaves free. Mr. Sumner offered a- substi- 
tute to the whole bill, which in his judgment did not go 
far enough in giving the country the advantage of the ' ' op- 
portunity which God, in His beneficence, had afforded" 
it for securing universal emancipation. Mr. Powell, of 
Kentucky, moved to strike out the eleventh section, 
which authorized the President to ' ' employ as many per- 
sons of African descent as he might deem necessary and 
proper for the surjpression of the rebellion, and to organ- 
ize and use them in such manner as he might judge best 
for the public welfare" — but his motion was rejected by 
a vote of eleven to twenty-five. While the bill was thus 
denounced by one class of Senators as too violent in its 
method of dealing with the rebels, it was resisted with 
still greater vehemence by another class as entirely de- 
fective in that respect. Mr. Sumner was especially 
severe in his censure of Senators who proposed, he said, 
"when the life of our Republic is struck at, to proceed 
as if by an indictment in a criminal court." His remarks 
gave rise to considerable personal discussion — which was 
interrupted by the receipt of a similar bill which had been 
passed by the House of Representatives, and which was 
decidedly more in harmony with the extreme views of 
Mr. Sumner and his friends, than the Senate bill. It 
assumed that the rebels were to be treated like a foreign 
enemy, without regard to the limitations and require- 
ments of the Constitution, and that Congress, instead of 
the President, had the supreme and exclusive control of 
the operations of the war. This bill on coming before the 
Senate was set aside, and the bill which had been reported 
by the Senate Committee substituted in its place, by a 
vote of twenty-one to seventeen, and the latter was finally 
passed ; ayes twenty-eight, noes thirteen. The House 
did not concur in this amendment to its own bill ; but on 
receiving the report of a Committee of Conference which 
made some amendments to the Senate bill, it was passed, 
as amended, by both Houses, and sent to the President 
for his signature. 
The provisions of this bill were as follows : — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 243 

Section 1 enacted that every person who should after its passage com- 
mit the crime" of treason against the United States, and he adjudged 
guilty thereof, should suffer death, and all his slaves, if any, should be 
declared and made free ; or he should be imprisoned for not less than 
five years, and fined not less than $10,000, and all his slaves made free. 

Section 2 declared that if any person shall hereafter incite, assist, or 
engage in any rebellion against the authority of the United States or tho 
laws thereof, or give aid or comfort thereto, or to any existing rebellion, 
and be convicted thereof, he shall be imprisoned for ten years or less, 
fined not more than $10,000, and all his slaves shall be set free. 

Section 3. Every person guilty of these offences shall be forever dis- 
qualified to hold any office under the United States. 

Section 4. This act was not to affect the prosecution, conviction, or 
punishment of any person guilty of treason before the passage of the act, 
unless convicted under it. 

Section 5 made it the duty of the President to seize and apply to the 
use of the army of the United States all the property of persons who had 
served as officers of the rebel army, or had held certain civil offices under 
the rebel Government, or in the rebel States, provided they had taken 
an oath of allegiance to the rebel authorities, and also of persons who, 
having property in any of the loyal States, shall hereafter give aid to the 
rebellion. 

Section 6 prescribed that if any other persons being engaged in the 
rebellion should not, within sixty days after public proclamation duly 
made by the President, cease to aid the rebellion, all their property 
should be confiscated in the same manner. 

Section 7 directed that proceedings in rem should be instituted in tho 
name of the United States in the court of the district within which such 
property might be found, and if said property, whether real or personal, 
Bhould be found to belong to any person engaged in rebellion, it should 
be condemned as enemies' property, and become the property of the 
United States. 

Section 8 gave the several District Courts of the United States author- 
ity and power to make such orders a9 these proceedings might require. 

Section 9 enacted that all slaves of persons who shall hereafter be en- 
gaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who 
shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from such persons, 
and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured 
from such persons or deserted by them and coming under the control of 
the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found, 
or being within any place occupied by rebel forces, and afterwards occu- 
pied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives of war, 
and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves. 

Section 10 enacted that no slave escaping into another State should 
be delivered up, unless the claimant should make oath that the owner or 



244 The Life, Public Services, and 

master of such slave had never borne arms against the United States, or 
given any aid and comfort to the rebellion ; and every person in the mili- 
tary service of the United States was prohibited from deciding on the 
validity of any claim to the services of any escaped slave, on pain of dis- 
missal. 

Section 11 authorized the President to employ as many persons of Af- 
rican descent as he might deem necessary and proper for the suppression 
of the rebellion, and to organize and use them as he might deem best for 
the public welfare. 

Section 12 authorized the President to make provision for the coloni- 
zation, with their own consent, of persons freed under this act, to some 
country beyond the limits of the United States, having first obtained the 
consent of the Government of said country to their protection and settle- 
ment, with all the privileges of free men. 

Section 13 authorized the President at any time hereafter, by procla- 
mation, to extend to persons who may have participated in this rebellion, 
pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions, and at 9uch time, and on such 
conditions as he might deem expedient for the public welfare. 

Section 1-4 gave the courts of the United States authority to institute 
Buch proceedings, and issue such orders a3 might be necessary to carry 
this act into effect. 

It soon came to be understood that the President had 
objections to certain portions of the "bill which would 
probably prevent him from signing it. A joint resolu- 
tion was at once passed in the House, providing that the 
bill should be so construed "as not to apply to any acts 
done prior to its passage ; nor to include any member of 
a State legislature, or judge of any State court who has 
not, in accepting or entering upon his office, taken an 
oath to support the constitution of the so-called Confed- 
erate States of America." When this reached the Senate, 
Mr. Clark, of New Hampshire, offered the following, to 
be added to the resolution : — 

Nor shall any punishment or proceedings under said act be so con- 
strued as to work a forfeiture of the real estate of the offender beyond 
his natural life. % 

This provision encountered a sharp opposition : Mr. 
Trumbull, of Illinois, insisting that the forfeiture of real 
estate for life only would amount to nothing, and other 
Senators objecting to being influenced in their action by 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 245 

the supposed opinions of the President. Mr. Clark also 
proposed another amendment, authorizing the President, 
in granting an amnesty, to restore to the offender any 
property which might have been seized and condemned 
under this act. The resolutions and amendments were 
passed by the Senate, and received the concurrence 
of the House. On the 17th of July President Lincoln sent 
in the following message, announcing that he had signed 
the bill, and specifying his objections to the act in its 
original shape : — 

Fellow-Citizens of tiie Senate and House of Representatives : 

Considering the bill for " An Act to suppress insurrection, to punish 
treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the property x>f rebels, and 
for other purposes," and the joint resolution explanatory of said act as 
being substantially one, I bave approved and signed both. 

Before I was informed of the resolution, I had prepared the draft of a 
message, stating objections to the bill becoming a law, a copy of which 
draft is herewith submitted. Abeaham Lincoln. 

July 12, 1862. 

[Copy.] 
Fellow-Citizens of TnE ITouse of Eepeeesentatives : 

I herewith return to the honorable body in which it originated, the 
bill for an act entitled " An Act to suppress treason and rebellion, to 
seize and confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," to- 
gether with my objections to its becoming a law. 

There is much in the bill to which I perceive no objection. It is 
wholly prospective ; and it touches neither person nor property of any 
'oval citizen, in which particular it is just and proper. 

The first and second sections provide for the conviction and punish- 
ment of persons who shall be guilty of treason, and persons who shall 
" incite, set on foot, assist, or engage in any rebellion or insurrection 
against the authority of the United States, or the laws thereof, or shall 
give aid or comfort thereto, or shall engage in or give aid and comfort to 
any such existing rebellion or insurrection." By fair construction, per- 
sons within those sections are not punished without regular trials in duly 
constituted courts, under the forms and all the substantial provisions of 
law and the Constitution applicable to their several cases. To this I per- 
ceive no objection ; especially as such persons would be within the gen- 
eral pardoning power, and also the special provision for pardon and am- 
nesty contained in this act. 

It is also provided that the slaves of persons convicted under these sec- 



246 The Life, Public Services, and 

tions b'A - :l be free. I think there is an unfortunate form of expression, 
rather than a substantial objection, in this. It is startling to say that 
Congress can free a slave within a State, and yet if it were said the 
ownership of a slave had first been transferred to the nation, and Con- 
gress had then liberated him, the difficulty would at once vanish. And 
this is the real case. The traitor against the General Government for- 
feits his slave at least as justly as he does any other property ; and he 
forfeits both to the Government against which he offends. The Govern- 
ment, so far as there can be ownership, thus owns the forfeited slaves, 
and the question for Congress in regard to them is, " Shall they be made 
free or sold to new masters?" I perceive no objection to Congress de- 
ciding in advance that they shall be free. To the high honor of Ken- 
tucky, as I am informed, she is the owner of some slaves by escheat, and 
has sold none, but liberated all. I hope the same is true of some other 
States. Indeed, I do not believe it will be physically possible for the 
General Government to return persons so circumstanced to actual slavery. 
I believe there would be physical resistance to it, which could neither be 
turned aside by argument nor driven away by force. In this view I have 
no objection to this feature of the bill. Another matter involved in these 
two sections, and running through other parts of the act, will be noticed 
hereafter. 

I perceive no objections to the third or fourth sections. 

So far as I wish to notice the fifth and sixth sections, they may be con- 
sidered together. That the enforcement of these sections would do no 
injustice to the persons embraced within them, is clear. That those who 
make a causeless war should be compelled to pay the cost of it, is too ob- 
viously just to be called in question. To give governmental protection 
to the property of persons who have abandoned it, and gone on a crusade 
to overthrow the same Government, is absurd, if considered in the mere 
light of justice. The severest justice may not always be the best policy. 
The principle of seizing and appropriating the property of the person em- 
braced within these sections is certainly not very objectionable, but a 
justly discriminating application of it would be very difficult, and, to a 
great extent, impossible. And would it not be wise to place a power of 
remission somewhere, so that these persons may know they have some- 
thing to lose by persisting, and something to gain by desisting? I am 
not sure whether such power of remission is or is not in section thirteen. 
"Without any special act of Congress, I think our military commanders, 
when, in military phrase, "they are within the enemy's country," should, 
in an orderly manner, seize and use whatever of real or personal prop- 
erty may be necessary or convenient for their commands ; at the same 
time preserving, in some way, the evidence of what they do. 

What I Have said in regard to slaves, while commenting on the first 
and second sections, is applicable to the ninth, with the difference that no 
provision is made in tho whole act for determining whether a particular 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 247 

individual slave does or does not fall within the classes defined in that 
section, lie is to be free upon certain conditions ; but whether those 
conditions do or do not pertain to him, no mode of ascertaining is pro- 
vided. This could be easily supplied. 

To the tenth section I make no objection. The oath therein required 
6eems to be proper, and the remainder of the section is substantially iden- 
tical with a law already existing. 

The eleventh section simply assumes to confer discretionary power 
upon the Executive. Without the law, I have no hesitation to go as far 
in the direction indicated as I may at any time deem expedient. And I 
am ready to say now, I think it is proper for our military commanders 
to employ, as laborers, as many persons of African descent as can be 
used to advantage. 

The twelfth and thirteenth sections are something better than unobjec- 
tionable ; and the fourteenth is entirely proper, if all other parts of the 
act shall stand. 

That to which I chiefly object pervades most part of the act, but more 
distinctly appears in the first, second, seventh, and eighth sections. It id 
the sum of those provisions which results in the divesting of title forever. 

For the causes of treason and ingredients of treason, not amounting to 
the full crime, it declares forfeiture extending beyond the lives of the 
guilty parties ; whereas the Constitution of the United States declares 
that "no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture 
except during the life of the person attainted." True, there is to be no 
formal attainder in this case ; still, I think the greater punishment can- 
not be constitutionally inflicted, in a differeut form, for the same offence. 

"With great respect .1 am constrained to say I think this feature of the 
act is unconstitutional. It would not be difficult to modify it. 

I may remark that the provision of the Constitution, put in language 
borrowed from Great Britain, applies only in this country, as I under- 
stand, to real or landed estate. 

Again, this act, in rem, forfeits property for the ingredients of treason 
without a conviction of the supposed criminal, or a personal hearing 
given him in any proceeding. That we may not touch property lying 
within our reach, because we cannot give personal notice to an owner 
who is absent endeavoring to destroy the Government, is certainly satis- 
factory. Still, the owner may not be thus engaged; and I think a rea- 
sonable time should be provided for such parties to appear and have per- 
sonal hearings. Similar provisions are not uncommon in connection with 
proceedings in, rem. 

For the reasons stated, I return the bill to the House in which it origi- 
nated. 

The passage of this "bill constituted a very important 
step in the prosecution of the war for the suppression of 



24 S The Life, Public Services, and 



the rebellion. It prescribed definite penalties for the 
crime of treason, and thus supplied a defect in the laws 
as they then existed. It gave the rebels distinctly to un- 
derstand that one of these penalties, if they persisted in 
their resistance to the authority of the United States, 
would be the emancipation of their slaves. And it also 
authorized the employment by the President of persons 
of African descent, to aid in the suppression of the Rebel- 
lion in any way which he might deem most conducive to 
the public welfare. Yet throughout the bill, it was 
clearly made evident that the object and purpose of these 
measures was not the abolition of slavery, but the preser- 
vation of the Union and the restoration of the authority 
of the Constitution. 

On the 14th of January Simon Cameron resigned his 
position as Secretary of War. On the 30th of April the 
House of Representatives passed, by a vote of seventy- 
five to forty-five, a resolution, censuring certain official 
acts performed by him while acting as Secretary of War ; 
whereupon, on the 27th of May, President Lincoln trans- 
mitted to the .House the following message : — 

To the Senate and House of JSe2)resentatives : 

The insurrection which is yet existing in the United States, and aims 
at the overthrow of the Federal Constitution and the Union, was clan- 
destinely prepared during the winter of 18G0 and 1861, and assumed an 
open organization in the form of a treasonable provisional government at 
Montgomery, Alabama, on the eighteenth day of February, 1861. On the 
twelfth day of April, 1861, the insurgents committed the flagrant act of 
civil war by the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter, which cut 
oft" the hope of immediate conciliation. Immediately afterwards all the 
roads and avenues to this city were obstructed, and the Capital was put 
into the condition of a siege. The mails in every direction were stopped 
and the linea of telegraph cut off by the insurgents, and military and 
naval forces which had been called out by the Government for the de- 
fence of Washington were prevented from reaching the city by organized 
and combined treasonable resistance in the State of Maryland. Thero 
was no adequate and effective organization for the public defence. Con- 
gress had indefinitely adjourned. There was no time to convene them, 
It became necessary for me to choose whether, using only the existing 
means, agencies, and processes which Congress had provided, I should let 
the Government fall into ruin, or whether, availing myself of the broader 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 249 

powers conferred by the Constitution in eases of insurrection, I would 
make an effort to save it, with all its blessings, for the present age and for 
posterity. I thereupon summoned my constitutional advisers, the heads 
of all the departments, to meet on ^undjiy, the twentieth day of April, 
1801, at the office of the Navy Department, and then and there, with their 
unanimous concurrence, I directed that an armed revenue cutter should 
proceed to sea to afford protection to the commercial marine, especially 
to the California treasure-ships, then on their way to this coast. I also 
directed the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Boston to purchase or 
charter, and arm, as quickly as possible, five steamships for purposes of 
public defence. I directed the Commandant of the Navy Yard at Phila- 
delphia to purchase or charter, and arm, an equal number for the same 
purpose. I directed the Commandant at New York to purchase or char- 
ter, and arm, an equal number. I directed Commander Gillis to purchase 
or charter, and arm and put to sea, two other vessels. Similar directions 
were given to Commodore Du Pont, with a view to the opening of pas- 
sages by water to and from the Capital. I directed the several officers to 
take the advice and obtain the aid and efficient services in the matter of 
his Excellency Edwin D. Morgan, the Governor of New York; or, in his 
absence, George 1). Morgan, "Win. M. Evarts, R. M. Blatchford, and Moses 
H. Grinnell, who were, by my directions, especially empowered by the 
Secretary of the Navy to act for his department in that crisis, in matters 
pertaining to the forwarding of troops and supplies for the public defence. 
On the same occasion I directed that Governor Morgan and Alexander 
Cummings, of the City of New York, should be authorized by the Sec- 
retary of War, Simon Cameron, to make all necessary arrangements for 
the transportation of troops and munitions of war in aid and assist- 
ance of the officers of the army of the United States, until communica- 
tion by mails and telegraph should be completely re-established between 
the cities of Washington and New York. No security was required to 
be given by them, and either of them was authorized to act in caso of 
inability to consult with the other. On the same occasion I authorized 
and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to advance, without requir- 
ing security, two millions of dollars of public money to John A. Dix, 
George Opdyke, and Richard M. Blatchford, of New York, to be used 
by them in meeting such requisitions as should be directly consequent 
upon the military and naval measures for the defence and support of 
the Government, requiring them only to act without compensation, and 
to report their transactions when duly called upon. The several de- 
partments of the Government at that time contained so large a number 
of disloyal persons that' it would have been impossible to provide safely 
through official agents only, for the performance of the duties thus con- 
fided to citizens favorably known for their ability, loyalty, and patriot- 
ism. The several orders issued upon these occurrences were trans- 
mitted by private messengers, who pursued a circuitous way to the 



250 The Life, Public Services, and 

seaboard cities, inland across the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio, and 
the northern lakes. I believe that by these and other similar measures 
taken in that crisis, some of which were without any authority of law, 
the Government was saved from overthrow. I am not aware that a 
dollar of the public funds thus confided, without authority of law, to un- 
official persons, was either lost or wasted, although apprehensions of such 
misdirections occurred to me as objections to these extraordinary pro- 
ceedings, and were necessarily overruled. I recall these transactions now, 
because my attention has been directed to a resolution which was passed 
by the House of representatives on the thirtieth of last month, which is 
in these words : — 

Resolved, That Simon Cameron, late Secretary of "War, by intrusting 
Alexander Cummings with the control of large suras of the public money, 
and authority to purchase military supplies without restriction, without 
requiring from him any guarantee for the faithful performance of his 
duties, while the services of competent public officers were available, and 
by involving the Government in a vast number of contracts with persons 
not legitimately engaged in the business pertaining to the subject-matter 
of such contracts, especially in the purchase of arms for future deliv- 
ery, has adopted a policy highly injurious to the public service, and 
deserves the censure of the House. 

Congress will see that I should be wanting in candor and in justice if I 
should leave the censure expressed in this resolution to rest exclusively or 
chiefly upon Mr. Cameron. The same sentiment is unanimously enter- 
tained by the heads of the departments, who participated in the proceed- 
ings which the House of Eepresentatives has censured. It is due to Mr. 
Cameron to say, that although he fully approved the proceedings, they 
were not moved nor suggested by himself, and that not only the Presi- 
dent, but all the other heads of departments, were at least equally respon- 
sible with him for whatever error, wrong, or fault was committed in the 
premises. Abkaiiam Lincoln. 

This letter was in strict conformity with the position 
uniformly held by the President in regard to the respon- 
sibility of members of his Cabinet for acts of the Admin- 
istration. He always maintained that the proper duty of 
each Secretary was, to direct the details of every thing 
done within his own department, and to tender such sug- 
gestions, information, and advice to the President as he 
might solicit at his hands. But the duty and responsi- 
bility of deciding what line of policy should be pursued, 
or what steps should be taken in any specific case, in his 
judgment, belonged exclusively to the President; and he 
was always willing and ready to assume it. This posi- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 251 

tion has "been widely and sharply assailed in various 
quarters, as contrary to the precedents of our early his- 
tory ; hut we believe it to be substantially in accordance 
with the theory of the Constitution upon this subject. 

The progress of our armies in certain portions of the 
Southern States had warranted the suspension, at several 
ports, of the restrictions placed upon commerce by the 
blockade. On the 12th of May the President accordingly 
issued a proclamation declaring that the blockade of the 
ports of Beaufort, Port Royal, and New Orleans should 
so far cease from the 1st of June, that commercial inter- 
course from those ports, except as to contraband of war, 
might be resumed, subject to the laws of the United 
States and the regulations of the Treasury Department. 

On the 1st of July he issued another proclamation, in 
pursuance of the law of June 7th, designating the States 
and parts of States that were then in insurrection, so that 
the laws of the United States concerning the collection of 
taxes could not be enforced within their limits, and de- 
claring that ' ' the taxes legally chargeable upon real 
estate, under the act referred to, lyiug within the States 
or parts of States thus designated, together with a penalty 
of fifty per cent, of said taxes, should be a lien upon the 
tracts or lots of the same, severally charged, till paid." 

On the 20th of October, finding it absolutely necessary 
to provide judicial proceedings for the State of Louisiana, 
a part of which was in our military possession, the Presi- 
dent issued an order establishing a Provisional Court in 
the City of New Orleans, of which Charles A. Peabody 
was made Judge, with authority to try all causes, civil 
and criminal, in law, equity, revenue, and admiralty, and 
particularly to exercise all such power and jurisdiction 
as belongs to the Circuit and District Courts of the United 
States. His proceedings were to be conformed, as far as 
possible, to the course of proceedings and practice usual 
in the Courts of the United States of Louisiana, and his 
judgment was to be final and conclusive. 

Congress adjourned on the 17th of July, having adopted 
many measures of marked though minor importance, be 



252 The Life., Public Services, and 

sides those to which, we have referred, to aid iu the pros- 
ecution of the war. Several Senators were expelled for 
adherence, direct or indirect, to the rebel cause ; meas- 
ures were taken to remove from the several departments 
of the Government employes more or less openly in sym- 
pathy with secession ; Hayti and Liberia were recognized 
as independent republics ; a treaty was negotiated and 
ratified with Great Britain which conceded the right, 
within certain limits, of searching suspected slavers car- 
rying the American flag, and the most liberal grants in 
men and money were made to the Government for the 
prosecution of the war. Tiie President had appointed 
military governors for several of the Border States, where 
public sentiment was divided, enjoining them to protect 
the loyal citizens, and to regard them as alone entitled to 
a voice in the direction of civil affairs. 

Public sentiment throughout the loyal States sustained 
the action of Congress and the President, as adapted to 
the emergency, and well calculated to aid in the sujipres- 
sion of the rebellion. At the same time it was very evi- 
dent that the conviction was rapidly gaining ground that 
slavery Avas the cause of the rebellion ; that the para- 
mount object of the conspirators against the Union was 
to obtain new guarantees for the institution ; and that it 
was this interest alone which gave unity and vigor to the 
rebel cause. A very active and influential party at the 
North had insisted from the outset that the most direct 
way of crushing the rebellion was by crushing slavery, 
and they had urged upon the President the adoption of a 
policy of immediate and unconditional emancipation, as 
the only thing necessary to bring into the ranks of the 
Union armies hundreds of thousands of enfranchised 
slaves, as well as the great mass of the people of the 
Northern States who needed this stimulus of an appeal to 
their moral sentiment. After the adjournment of Con- 
gress these demands became still more clamorous and 
importunate. The President was summoned to avail 
himself of the opportunity offered by the passage of the 
Confiscation Bill, and to decree the instant liberation of 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 253 

every slave belonging to a rebel master. These demands 
soon assumed, with the more impatient and intemperate 
portion of the friends of the Administration, a tone of 
complaint and condemnation, and the President was 
charged with gross and culpable remissness in the dis- 
charge of duties imposed upon him by the act of Con- 
gress. They were embodied with force and effect in a 
letter addressed to the President by Hon. Horace Greeley, 
and published in the JSfeio Torlc Tribune of the 19th of 
August, to which President Lincoln made the following 
reply :— 

Executive Mansion, Washington, August 22, 1SC2, 

IIo> T . Horace Greeley : 

Dear Sir — I Lave just road yours of the 19th instant, addressed to my- 
self through the Kew York Tribune. 

If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I may 
know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them. 

If there be any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I 
do not now and here argue against them. 

If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive 
it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be 
right. 

As to the policy I " seem to be pursuing/' as you say, I have not meant 
to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in 
the shortest way under the Constitution. 

The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union 
wdl be — the Union as it was. 

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at 
the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. 

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at 
the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. 

My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or to 
destroy slavery. 

If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it — if I 
could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it — and if I could do it 
by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. 

What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it 
helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not 
believe it would help to save the Union. 

I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts tho 
cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more w ill help the 
cuuse. 

I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt 
new views so fast as they shall appear to be truo news. 



254 The Life, Public Services, anb 

I nave here stated my purpose according to my views of official duty, 
and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all 
men everywhere could he free. Yours, 

A. Lixcolx. 

It was impossible to mistake the President' s meaning 
after this letter, or to have any doubt as to the policy "by 
which he expected to re-establish the authority of the 
Constitution over the whole territory of the United States. 
His "paramount object," in every thing he did and in 
every thing he abstained from doing, was to "save the 
Union." He regarded all the power conferred on him by 
Congress in regard to slavery, as having been conferred 
to aid him in the accomplishment of that object — and he 
was resolved to wield those powers so as best, according 
to his own judgment, to aid in its attainment. He for- 
bore, therefore, for a long time, the issue of such a proc- 
lamation as he was authorized to make by the sixth sec- 
tion of the Confiscation Act of Congress — awaiting the 
developments of public sentiment on the subject, and 
being especially anxious that when it was issued it 
should receive the moral support of the great body of 
the people of the whole country, without regard to party 
distinctions. He sought, therefore, with assiduous care, 
every opportunity of informing himself as to the drift 
of public sentiment on this subject. He received and 
conversed freely Avith all who came to see him and to 
urge upon him the adoption of their peculiar views ; and 
on the 13th of September gave formal audience to a depu- 
tation from all the religious denominations of the City of 
Chicago, which had been appointed on the 7th, to wait 
upon him. The committee presented a memorial request- 
ing him at once to issue a proclamation of universal eman- 
cipation, and the chairman followed it by some remarks 
in support of this request. 

The President listened attentively to the memorial, and 
then made to those who had presented it the following 
reply :— 

The suhject presented in the memorial is one upon which I have thought 
much for weeks past, and I may even say fur months. I am approached 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 255 

with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religions men, 
who are equally certain that they represent the Divine will. I am suro 
that either the one or the other class is mistaken in that belief, and per- 
haps in some respects both. I hope it will not le irreverent for me to 
eay that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others, on a 
point so connected with my duty, it might be supposed he would reveal 
it directly to me; for, unless I am more deceived in myself than I often 
am, it is my earnest desire to know the will of Providence in this matter. 
And if I can learn what it is I will do it ! These are not, however, the 
days of miracles, and I suppose it will be granted that I am not to expect. 
a direct revelation. I must study the plain physical facts of the case, 
ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and right. 

The subject is difficult, and good men do not agree. For instance, the 
other day, four gentlemen of standing and intelligence from New York 
called as a delegation on business connected with the war; but before 
leaving two of them earnestly besought me to proclaim general emanci- 
pation, upon which the other two at once attacked them. You know 
also that the last session of Congress had a decided majority of anti- 
slavery men, yet they could not unite on this policy. And the same is 
true of the religious people. Why, the rebel soldiers are praying with 
a great deal more earnestness, I fear, than our own troops, and expect- 
ing God to favor their side : for one of our soldiers who had been taken 
prisoner told Senator Wilson a few days since that he met nothing so 
discouraging as the evident sincerity of those he was among in their 
prayers. But we will talk over the merits of the case. 

What good would a proclamation of emancipation from me do, espe- 
cially as we are now situated ? I do not want to issue a document that 
the whole world will see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's 
bull against the comet! Would my word fr,eo the slaves, when I cannot 
even enforce the Constitution in the rebel 'States ? Is there a single 
court, or magistrate, or individual that would be influenced by it there? 
And what reason is there to. think it would have any greater effect upon 
the slaves than the late law of Congress, which I approved, and which 
offers protection and freedom to the slaves of rebel masters who come 
within our lines? Yet I cannot learn that that law has caused a single 
slave to come over to us. And suppose they could'be induced by aproc- 
lation of freedom from me to throw themselves upon us, what should 
we do with them? Flow can we feed and care for such a multitude? 
General Butler wrote me a few days since that he was issuing more 
rations to the slaves who have rushed to him than to all the white 
troops under his command. They eat, and that is all; though it is true 
General Butler is feeding the whites also by the thousand; for it nearly 
amounts to a famine there. If, now, the pressure of the war should call 
off our forces from 2sfew Orleans to defend some other point, what is to 
prever.t the masters from reducing the blacks to slavery again ? for I 






256 The Life, Public Services, and 

am told that whenever the rebels take any black prisoners, free or slave, 
they immediately auction them off! They did so with those they took 
from a boat that was aground in the Tennessee River a fow days ago. 
And then I am very ungenerously attacked for it ! For instance, wheD, 
after the late battles at and near Bull Pam, an expedition went out from 
Washington under a flag of truce to bury the dead and bring in the 
wounded, and the rebels seized the blacks who went along to help, and 
6ent them into slavery, Horace Greeley said in his paper that the Govern • 
ment would probably do nothing about it. What could I do? 

Now, then, tell me, if you please, what possible result of good would 
follow the issuing of such a proclamation as you desire ? Understand, 
I raise no objections against it on legal or constitutional grounds, for, as 
commander-in-chief of the army and navy, in time of war I suppose I 
have a right to take any measure which may best subdue the enemy ; 
nor do I urge objections of a moral nature, in view of possible conse- 
quences of insurrection and massacre at the South. I view this matter 
as a practical war measure, to be decided on according to the advantages 
or disadvantages it may offer to the suppression of the rebellion. 

The Committee replied to these remarks, insisting that 
a proclamation of emancipation would secure at once the 
sympathy of Europe and the civilized world ; and that 
as slavery was clearly the cause and origin of the rebel- 
lion, it was simply just, and in accordance with the word 
of God, that it should be abolished. To these remarks 
the President responded! as follows : — 

I admit that slavery is at the root of the rebellion,- or at least its sine 
qua non. The ambition of politicians may have instigated them to act, 
but they would have been impotent without slavery as their instrument. 
I will also concede that emancipation would help us in Europe, and con- 
vince them that we are incited by something more^ than ambition. I 
grant, further, that it would help somewhat at the North, though not so 
much, I fear, as you and those you represent imagine. Still, some addi- 
tional strength would be added in that way to the war, and then, un- 
questionably, it would weaken the rebels by drawing off their laborers, 
which is of great importance ; but I am not so sure we could do much 
with the blacks. If we were to arm them, I fear that in a few weeks 
the arms would be in the hands of the rebels; and, indeed, thus far, we 
have not had arms enough to equip our white troops. I will mention 
another thing, though it meet only your scorn and contempt. There are 
fifty thousand bayonets in the Union army from the Border Slave States 
It would be a serious matter if, in consequence of a proclamation such 
as you desire, they should go over to the rebels. I do not think they all 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 257 

would —not so many, indeed, as a year ago, or as six months ago — not so 
many to-day as yesterday. Every day increases their Union feeling, 
They are also getting their pride enlisted, and want to heat the rebels. 
Let me say one thing more : I think you should admit that we already 
have an important principle to rally and unite the people, in the fact that 
constitutional government is at stake. This is a fundamental idea going 
down about as deep as any thing. 

The Committee replied to this in some brief remarks, to 
which the President made the following response : — 

Do not misunderstand me because I have mentioned these objections. 
They indicate the difficulties that have thus far prevented my action in 
some such way as you desire. I have not decided against a proclamation 
of liberty to the slaves, but hpld the matter under advisement. And I 
can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day and night, more 
than any other. (^Whatever shall appear to be God's will I will do. I 
trust that in the freedom with which I have canvassed your views I have 
not in any respect injured your feelings. 

After free deliberation, and being satisfied that the 
public welfare would be promoted by such a step, and 
that public sentiment would sustain it, on the 22d of Sep- 
tember the President issued the following preliminary 

PROCLAMATION OP EMANCIPATION. 

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and 
Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim 
and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for 
the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the 
United States and each of the States, and the people thereof, in which 
States that relation is or may be suspended or disturbed. 

That it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again 
recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid 
to the free acceptance or rejection of all slave States, so called, the people 
whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and 
which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may vol- 
untarily adopt, immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their 
respective limits ; and that the effort to colonize persons of African 
descent, with their consent, upon this continent or elsewhere, with tho 
previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be 
continued. 

That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, 
or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 
17 



258 The Life, Public Services, and 

against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; 
and the Executive Government of the United States, including the mili- 
tary and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom 
of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any 
of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 

That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proo- 
lamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the 
people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United 
States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that 
day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by 
members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified 
voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong 
countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, 
and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United 
States. 

That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled "An Act 
to make an additional Article of War," approved March 13th, 18G2, and 
which act is in the words and figures following: — 

Be it enacted by the Senate and Ilouse of Representatives of tlie United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following 
shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government 
of the army of the United States, and shall be obeyed and observed as 
such : — 

Section 1. — Ail officers or persons in the military or naval service of 
the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under 
their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from 
service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such 
service* or labor is claimed to be due ; and any officer who shall be found 
guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from 
the service. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from 
and after its passage. 

Also, to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled " An Act tr> 
Suppress Insurrection, to Punish Treason and Rebellion, to Seize and 
Confiscate Property of Rebels, and for other Purposes," approved July 
16, 1SG2, and wlr>h sections are in the words and figures following:— 

Seo. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shall 
hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United 
States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from 
Buch persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army; and all 
slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by them and coining 
under the control of the Government of the United States; and all slaves 
of such persons found on [or] being within anyplace occupied by rebel 
forces and afterwards occupied by forces of the United States, shall be 
deemed captives of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and 
not again held as slaves. 

Seo. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any 
State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 259 

be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except 
for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming 
said fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or 
service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and haa 
not borne arms against the United States in tbe present rebellion, nor in 
any way given aid and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the 
military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence 
whatever, assume to decide on tbe validity of the claim of any person to 
the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such per- 
son to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service. 

And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the 
1 lilitary and naval service of tbe United States to observe, obey, and en- 
f\. rce, within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections 
al ive recited. 

And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the 
United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the 
rebellion, shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation be- 
tween the United States and their respective States and people, if 
that relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be compensated 
for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of 
6lavcs. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-second day of Sep- 
tember, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
[l. s.] sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the 
eighty-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

The issuing of this proclamation created the deepest 
interest, not unmixed with anxiety, in the public mind. 
The opponents of the Administration in the loyal States, 
as well as the sympathizers with secession everywhere, 
insisted that it afforded unmistakable evidence that the 
object of the war was, what they had always declared it 
to be, the abolition of slavery, and not the restoration of 
the Union ; and they put forth the most vigorous efforts 
to arouse public sentiment against the Administration on 
this ground. They were met, however, by the clear and 
explicit declaration of the document itself, in which the 
President "proclaimed and declared" that "hereafter, as 
heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of 
practically restoring the constitutional relation between 



:> 



2C0 The Life, Public Services, and 

the United States and each of the States and the people 
thereof, in which that relation is or may be suspended or 
disturbed." This at once made it evident that emancipa- 
tion, as provided for in the proclamation, as a war meas- 
ure, was subsidiary and subordinate to the paramount 
object of the war — the restoration of the Union and the 
re-establishment of the authority of the Constitution ; and 
in this sense it was favorably received by the great body 
of the loyal people of the United States. 

It only remains to be added, in this connection, that on 
the 1st of January, 1863, the President followed this 
measure by issuing the following 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, on the 22d day of September, in the year of our Lord ono 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by tho 
President of the United States, containing, among other things, the fol 
lowing, to wit: — 

That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any 
States or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in 
rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and 
forever free ; and the Executive Government of the United States, in 
eluding the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and 
maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to re- 
press such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their 
actual freedom. 

That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proc- 
lamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which tha 
people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United 
States ; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that 
day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by 
members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified 
voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence ot 
strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such 
State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United 
States. 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army 
and navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against 
the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and 
necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day 
of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and 
sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly pro- 
claimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above 






State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 261 

mentioned, order and designate, as the States and parts of States wherein 
the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the 
United States, the following, to wit : 

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Flaque- 
mines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, 
Terre Bonne, Lafourche, Ste. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, including 
the City of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South 
Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties 
designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, 
Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, inclu- 
ding the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are 
for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. 

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order 
and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States 
and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the 
Executive Government of the United States, including the military and 
naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said 
persons. 

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain 
from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence ; and I recommend to 
them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable 
wages. 

And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable 
condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to 
garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of 
all sorts in said service. 

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted 
by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate 
judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of "Washington, this first day of January, in the year 
. -, of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixfy-three, and of 
the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. 

By the President : Abeatiam Lincoln. 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 



262 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE MILITARY ADMINISTRATION OF 1862.— THE PRESIDENT AND 
GENERAL McCLELLAN. 

General McClellan succeeds McDowell. — Tiie President's Order for 
an Advance. — The Movement to tiie Peninsula. — Rebel Evacuation 
of Manassas. — Arrangements for tiie Peninsular Movement. — Tub 
President's Letter to General McClellan. — The Rebel Strength 

AT YoRKTOWN. THE BATTLE OF WlLLIAMSBURG. McClELLAN'S FeAK 

of being Overwhelmed.— The President to McClellan. — Jackson's 
Raid in tiie Shenandoah Valley. — TnE President to McClellan. — 
Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. — McClellan's Complaints of Mc- 
Dowell. — His Continued Delays. — Prepares for Defeat. — Calls 
for more Men. — His Advice to the President. — Preparations to 
Concentrate the Army. — General Halleck to McClellan. — Ap- 
pointment of General Pope. — Imperative Orders to McClellan. — 
McClellan's Failure to aid Pope. — His Excuses for Delay. — Pro- 
poses to leave. — Pope unaided. — Excuses for Franklin's Delay. — 
His Excuses proved Groundless. — His alleged Lack of Supplies. — 
Advance into Maryland. — The President's Letter to McClellan. 
— He Protests against Delay. — McClellan relieved from Com- 
mand. — Speech by the President. 

The repulse of the national forces at the battle of Bull 
Run in July, 1861, aroused the people of the loyal States 
to a sense of the magnitude of the contest which had been 
forced upon them. It stimulated to intoxication the pride 
and ambition of the rebels, and gave infinite encourage 
ment to their efforts to raise fresh troops, and increase the 
military resources of their Confederation. ]S"or did the 
reverse the national cause had sustained for an instant 
damp the ardor or check the determination of the Govern- 
ment and people of the loyal States. General McDowell, 
the able and accomplished officer who commanded the 
army of the United States in that engagement, conducted 
the operations of the day with signal ability ; and his 
defeat was due, as subsequent disclosures have clearly 
shown, far more to accidents for which others were re- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 2G3 

sponsible, than to any lack of skill in planning the "bat- 
tle, or of courage and generalship on the field. But it 
was the first considerable engagement of the war, and its 
loss was a serious and startling disappointment to the 
sanguine expectations of the people : it was deemed neces- 
sary therefore, to place a new commander at the head of 
the army in front of Washington. General McClellan, 
who had been charged, at the outset of the war, with 
operations in the Department of the Ohio, and who had 
achieved marked success in clearing Western Virginia of 
the rebel troops, was summoned to Washington on the 
22d of July, and on the 27th assumed command of the 
Army of the Potomac. Although then in command only 
of a department, General McClellan, with an ambition 
and a presumption natural, perhaps, to his age and the 
circumstances of his advancement, addressed his atten- 
tion to the general conduct of the war in all sections of 
the country, and favored the Government and Lieutenant- 
General Scott with several elaborate and meritorious let- 
ters of advice, as to the method most proper to be pur- 
sued for the suppression of the rebellion. He soon, how- 
ever, found it necessary to attend to the preparation of 
the army under his command for an immediate resumption 
of hostilities. Fresh troops in great numbers speedily 
poured in from the Northern States, and were organized 
and disciplined for prompt and effective service. The 
number of troops in and about the Capital when General 
McClellan assumed command, was a little over fifty thou- 
sand, and the brigade organization of General McDowell 
formed the basis for the distribution of these new forces. 
By the middle of October this army had been raised to 
over one hundred and iifty thousand men, with an artil- 
lery force of nearly five hundred pieces — all in a state of 
excellent discipline, under skilful officers, and animated 
by a zealous and impatient eagerness to renew the contest 
for the preservation of the Constitution and Government 
of the United States. The President and Secretary of 
War had urged the division of the army into corps 
d'armee, for the purpose of more effective service ; but 



264 The Life, Public Services, and 

General McClellan had discouraged and thwarted their 
endeavors in this direction, mainly on the ground that 
there were not officers enough of tried ability in the army 
to be intrusted with such high commands as this division 
would create. 

On the 22d of October, a portion of our forces which 
had been ordered to cross the Potomac above Washing- 
ton, in the direction of Leesburg, were met by a heavy 
force of the enemy at Ball' s Bluff, repulsed with severe 
loss, and compelled to return. The circumstances of this 
disaster excited a great deal of dissatisfaction in the pub- 
lic mind, and this was still further aggravated by the fact 
that the rebels had obtained, and been allowed to hold, 
comj)lete control of the Potomac below Washington, so 
as to establish a virtual and effective blockade of the 
Capital from that direction. Special efforts were repeat- 
edly made by the President and Navy Department to 
clear the banks of the river of the rebel forces, known to 
be small in number, which held them, but it was found 
impossible to induce General McClellan to take any steps 
to aid in the accomplishment of this result. In October 
he had promised that on a day named, four thousand 
troops should be ready to proceed down the river to co- 
operate with the Potomac flotilla under Captain Craven ; 
but at the time appointed the troops did not arrive, and 
General McClellan alleged, as a reason for having changed 
his mind, that his engineers had informed him that so 
large a body of troops could not be landed. The Secre- 
tary of the Navy replied that the landing of the troops 
was a matter of which that department assumed the 
responsibility ; and it was then agreed that the troops 
should be sent down the next night. They were not 
sent, however, either then or at any other time, for which 
General McClellan assigned as a reason the fear that such 
an attempt might bring on a general engagement. Cap- 
tain Craven upon this threw up his command, and the 
Potomac remained closed to the vessels and transports of 
the United States until it was opened in March of the next 
year by the voluntary withdrawal of the rebel forces. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 265 

On the 1st of November, General McClellan was ap- 
pointed by the President to succeed General Scott in the 
command of all the armies of the Union, remaining in 
personal command of the Army of the Potomac. His 
attention was then of necessity turned to the direction of 
army movements, and to the conduct of political affairs, 
so far as they came under military control, in the more 
distant sections of the country. But no movement took 
place in the Army of the Potomac. 

The season had been unusually favorable for military 
operations — the troops were admirably organized and dis 
ciplined, and in the highest state of efficiency — in num 
bers they were known to be far superior to those of the 
rebels opposed to them, who were nevertheless permit- 
ted steadily to push their approaches towards Washing- 
ton, while, from the highest officer to the humblest pri- 
vate, our forces were all animated with an eager desire to 
be led against the enemies of their country. As winter 
approached without any indications of an intended move- 
ment of our armies, the public impatience rose to the 
highest point of discontent. The Administration was 
everywhere held responsible for these unaccountable de- 
lays, and was freely charged by its opponents with a de- 
sign to protract the war for selfish political purposes of 
its own ; and at the fall election the public dissatisfaction 
made itself manifest by adverse votes in every considera- 
ble State where elections were held. 

Unable longer to endure this state of things, President 
Lincoln put an end to it on the 27th of January, 1862, by 
issuing the following order :— 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 27, 1SC2. 

Ordered, That the twenty-second day of February, 1862, he the day for 
a general movement of the land and naval forces of the United States 
against the insurgent forces. That especially the army at and about For- 
tress Monroe, the Army of the Potomac, the Army of Western Virginia, 
the army near Munfordsville, Kentucky, the army and flotilla at Cairo, 
and a naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready to move on that day. 

That all other forces, both land and naval, with their respective com- 
manders, obey existing orders for the time, and be ready to obey addi- 
tional orders when duly given. 



26G The Life, Public Services, and 

That the heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries of War 
and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, and the General-in-Chief, 
with all other commanders and subordinates of land and naval forces, 
will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities for prompt 
execution of this order. Abraham Lincoln, 

This order, which applied to all the armies of the Uni- 
ted States, was followed four days afterwards by the fol- 
lowing special order directed to General McClellan : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 81, 1662. 

Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac, 
after providing safely for the defence of Washington, be formed into an 
expedition for the immediate object of seizing and. occupying a point 
upon the railroad southwest of what is known as Manassas Junction, all 
details to be in the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief, and the expe- 
dition to moye before or on the twenty-second day of February next. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

The object of this order was to engage the rebel army 
in front of Washington by a flank attack, and by its de- 
feat relieve the Capital, put Richmond at our mercy, and 
break the main strength of the rebellion by destroying 
the principal army arrayed in its support. Instead of 
obeying it, General McClellan remonstrated against its 
execution, and urged the adoption of a different plan of 
attack, which was to move upon Richmond by way of 
the Chesapeake Bay, the Rappahannock River, and a 
land march across the country from Urbana, leaving the 
rebel forces in position at Manassas to be held in check, 
if they should attempt a forward movement, only by the 
troops in the fortifications around Washington. As the 
result of several conferences with the President, he ob- 
tained permission to state in writing his objections to his 
plan— the President meantime sending him the following 
letter of inquiry : — 

Executive Mansion-, Washington, Fci/ruary 3, 186i 
My Peak Sir: — You and I have distinct and different plans for a 
movement of the Army of the Potomac : yours to be done by the Chesa- 
peake, up the Rappahannock to Urbana, and across land to the terminus 
of the railroal on the York River ; mine to move directly to a point on 
the railroad southwest of Manassas. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 2G7 

If you will give satisfactory answers to the following questions, I shall 
gladly yield my plan to yours : — 

1st. Does not your plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time 
and money than mine? 

2d. AT herein is a victory more certain by your plan than mine? 

3d. Wherein is a victory more valuable by your plan than mine? 

4th. In fact, would it not be less valuable in this: that it would break 
no great line of the enemy's communications, while mine would? 

5th. In case of disaster, would not a retreat be more difficult by your 

plan than mine ? 

Yours, truly, Abraham Lincoln. 

Major-General McClellan. 

General McClellan sent to the Secretary of War, un- 
der date of February 3d, a very long letter, presenting 
strongly the advantage possessed by the rebels in hold- 
ing a central defensive position, from which they could 
with a small force resist any attack on either flank, con- 
centrating their main strength upon the other for a deci- 
sive action. The uncertainties of the weather, the neces- 
sity of having long lines of communication, and the prob- 
able indecisiveness even of a victory, if one should be 
gained, were urged against the President's plan. So 
strongly -was General McClellan in favor of his own plan 
of operations, that he said he ' ' should prefer the move 
from Fortress Monroe as a base, to an attack upon Ma- 
nassas." The President was by no means convinced by 
General McClellan' s reasoning; but in consequence of 
his steady resistance and unwillingness to enter upon the 
execution of any other plan, he assented to a submission 
of the matter to a council of twelve officers held late in 
February, at head-quarters. The result of that council 
•was, a decision in favor of moving by way of the lower 
Chesapeake and the Rappahannock — seven of the Gen- 
erals present, viz., Fitz-John Porter, Franklin, W. F. 
Smith, McCall, Blenker, Andrew Porter, and Naglee, 
voting in favor of it, as did Keyes also, with the qualifi- 
cation that the army should not move until the rebels 
were driven from the Potomac, and Generals McDowell, 
Sumner, Heintzelman, and Barnard, voting against it. 

In this decision the President acquiesced, and on the 



268 The Life, Public Services, and 

8th of March issued two general war orders, the first 
directing the Major-General commanding the Army of 
the Potomac to proceed forthwith to organize that part of 
said army destined to enter upon active operations into 
four army corps, to be commanded, the first by General 
McDowell, the second by General Sumner, the third by 
General Heintzelman, and the fourth by General Keyes. 
General Banks was assigned to the command of a fifth 
corps. It also appointed General Wadsworth Military 
Governor at AVashington, and directed the order to be 
" executed with such promptness and dispatch as m t to 
delay the commencement of the operations already di- 
rected to be undertaken by the Army of the Potomac. ' 
The second of these orders was as follov\ r s : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, March 8, 1SC2. 

Ordered, That no change of the base of operations of the Army of 
the Potomac shall be made without leaving in and about Washington 
such a force as, in the opinion of the General-in-Chief and the com- 
manders of army corps, shall leave said city entirely secure. 

That no more than two army corps (about fifty thousand troops) of 
said Army of the Potomac shall be moved en route for a new base of 
operations until the navigation of the Potomac, from Washington to the 
Chesapeake Bay, shall be freed from the enemy's batteries, and other 
obstructions, or until the President shall hereafter give express per- 
mission. 

That any movement as aforesaid, en route for a new base of operations, 
■which may be ordered by the General-in-Chief, and which may be in- 
tended to move upon the Chesapeake Bay, shall begin to move upon the 
bay as early as the eighteenth March instant, and the General-in-Chief 
shall be responsible that it moves as early as that day. 

Ordered, That the army and navy co-operate in an immediate effort to 
capture the enemy's batteries upon the Potomac between Washington 
and the Chesapeake Bay. Abraham Lincoln. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 

This order was issued on the 8th of March. On the 
9th, information was received by General McClellan, at 
Washington, that the enemy had abandoned his position 
in front of that city. He at once crossed the Potomac, 
and on the same night issued orders for an immediate ad- 
vance of the whole army towards Manassas— not with 



State Paffks of Abraham Lincoln. 2G9 

any intention, as lie lias since explained, of pursuing the 
rebels, and taking advantage of their retreat, but to "get 
rid of superfluous baggage and other impediments which 
accumulate so easily around an army encamped for a long 
time in one locality"— to give the troops " some expe- 
rience on the march and bivouac preparatory to the cam- 
paign," and. to afford them also a "good intermediate 
step between the quiet and comparative comfort of the 
camps around Washington and the vigor of active opera- 
tions."* These objects, in General McClellan's opinion, 
were sufficiently accomplished by what the Prince de 
Joinville, of his staff, styles a "promenade" of the army 
to Manassas, where they learned, from personal inspec- 
tion, that the rebels had actually evacuated that position ; 
and on the 15th, orders were issued for a return of the 
forces to Alexandria. 

On the 11th of March, the President issued another or- 
der, stating that "Major- General McClellan having per- 
sonally taken the field at the head of the Army of the 
Potomac, until otherwise ordered, he is relieved from the 
command of the other military departments, retaining 
command of the Department of the Potomac." Major- 
General Halleck was assigned to the command of the De- 
partment of the Mississippi, and the Mountain Depart 
ment was created for Major-General Fremont. All the 
commanders of departments were also required to report 
directly to the Secretary of War. 

On the 13th of March, a council of war was held at 
head-quarters, then at Fairfax Court-House, by which it 
was decided that, as the enemy had retreated behind the 
.Rappahannock, operations against Richmond could best 
be conducted from Fortress Monroe, provided : — 

1st. That tho enemy's vessel, Merrimac, can be neutralized. 

2d. That the means of transportation, sufficient for an immediate trans 
fur of the force to its new base, can be ready at Washington and Alexan. 
dria to move down the Potomac ; and, 

3d. That a naval auxiliary force can be had to silence, or aid in silcn- 
ting, the enemy's batteries on the York River. 

* See General McClellan's Report, dated August 4, 1SG3. 



270 The Life, Public Services, and 



4th. That the force to he left to cover Washington shall be such as to 
Hive an entire feeling of security for its safety from menace. 

Note. — That with the forts on the right bank of the Potomac fully 
garrisoned, and those on the left bank occupied, a covering force in front 
of the Virginia line of twenty-five thousand men would suffice. (Keyes, 
Heintzelman, and McDowell.) 

A total of forty thousand men for the defence of the city would 
suffice. (Sumner.) 

Upon receiving a report of this decision, the following 
communication was at once addressed to the commanding 
general : — 

War Department, March 13, 1SG2. 

The President having considered the plan of operations agreed upon 
by yourself and the commanders of army corps, makes no objection to 
the same, but gives the following directions as to its execution : — 

1st. Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely 
certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position and 
line of communication. 

2d. Leave Washington entirely secure. 

3d. Move the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a 
new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there ; or, 
at all events, move such remainder of the army at once in pursuit of the 
enemy by some route. Edwin- M. Staxtox, 

Secretary of War. 
Major-General George B. McClellan. 

It will readily he seen, from these successive orders, 
that the President, in common with the whole country, 
had been greatly pained by the long delay of the Army 
of the Potomac to move against the enemy while en- 
camped at Manassas, and that this feeling was converted 
into chagrin and mortification when the rebels were 
allowed to withdraw from that position without the 
slightest molestation, and without their design being even 
suspected until it had been carried into complete and suc- 
cessful execution. He was impatiently anxious, there- 
fore, that no more time should be lost in delays. In 
reply to the Secretary of War, General McClellan, before 
embarking for the Peninsula, communicated his intention 
of reaching, without loss of time, the field of what he 
believed would be a decisive battle, which he expected 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 271 

to fight between West Point and Richmond. On the 31st 
of March, the President, out of deference to the importu- 
nities of General Fremont and has friends, and from a "be- 
lief that this officer could make good use of a larger force 
Mian he then had at his command in the Mountain Depart- 
ment, ordered General Blenker's division to leave the 
Army of the Potomac and join him ; a decision which he 
announced to General McClellan in the following let- 
ter :— 

Executive Mansion, 'Washington, March 31, 1S62. 

My Dea.1! Sir: — This morning I felt constrained to order Blenker's 
division to Fremont, and 1 write this to assure you that I did so with 
great pain, understanding that yon would wish it otherwise. If you could 
know the full pressure of the case, I am confident that you would justify 
it, even beyond a mere acknowledgment that the Commander-in-Chief 
may order what he pleases. 

Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. 

Major-General McClellan. 

General Banks, who had at first been ordered "by Gen- 
eral McClellan to occupy Manassas, and thus cover 
Washington, was directed by him, on the 1st of April, to 
throw the rebel General Jackson well back from Win- 
chester, and then move on Staunton at a time "nearly 
coincident with his own move on Richmond ;" though 
General McClellan expressed the fear that General Banks 
"could not be ready in time 1 ' for that movement. The 
four corps of the Army of the Potomac, destined for active 
operations by way of the Peninsula, were ordered to em- 
bark, and forwarded as rapidly as possible to Fortress 
Monroe. On the 1st of April, General McClellan wrote 
to the Secretary of war, giving a report of the dispositions 
he had made for the defence of Washington ; and on the 
2d, General Wadsworth submitted a statement of the forces 
under his command, which he regarded as entirely inade- 
quate to the service required of them. The President re- 
ferred the matter to Adjutant-General Thomas and General 
E. A. Hitchcock, who made a report on the same day, in 
which they decided that the force left by General McClel- 
lan was not sufficient to make Washington " entirely 



272 The Life, Public Services, and 

secure," as the President had required in his order of 
March 13 ; nor was it as large as the council of officers 
held at Fairfax Court-House on the same day had ad- 
judged to be necessaiy. In accordance with this decision, 
and for the purpose of rendering the Capital safe, the army 
corps of General McDowell was detached from General 
McClellan s immediate command, and ordered to report 
to the Secretary of War. 

On reaching Fortress Monroe, General McClellan found 
Commodore Goldsborough, who commanded on that 
naval station, unwilling to send any considerable portion 
of his force up the York River, as he was employed iu 
watching the Merrimack, which had closed the James 
River against us. He therefore, landed at the Fortress, 
and commenced his march up the Peninsula, having 
reached the Warwick River, in the immediate vicinity of 
Yorktown, which had been fortified, and was held by a 
rebel force of about eleven thousand men, under General 
Magruder— a part of them, however, being across the 
river at Gloucester. He here halted to reconnoitre the 
position ; and on the 6th wrote to the President that he 
had but eighty-five thousand men fit for duty — that the 
whole line of the Warwick River was strongly fortified — 
that it Avas pretty certain he was to ' ' have the whole 
force of the enemy on his hands, probably not less than 
a hundred thousand men, and probably more," and that 
he should commence siege operations as soon as he could 
get up his train. He entered, accordingly, upon this 
work, telegraphing from time to time complaints that he 
was not properly supported by the Government, and 
asking for re-enforcements. 

On the 9th of April, President Lincoln addressed him 
the following letter : — 

"Washington, April 9, 1£62. 

ITy Dear Sip. : — Your dispatches, complaining that you are not prop- 
erly sustained, while they do not offend me, do pain me very much. 

Blenker's division was withdrawn from you before you left here, and 
you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought, acqui- 
esced in it — certainly not without reluctance. 

After you left, I ascertained that. less than twenty thousand unorgatt- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 273 

ized men, without a single field battery, were all you designed to be left 
for the defence of Washington and Manassas Junction, and part of this 
even was to go to General Hooker's old position. General Banks's corps, 
once designed for Manassas Junction, was diverted and tied up on the 
line of Winchester and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again 
exposing the Cpper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This 
presented, or would present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone, 
a great temptation to the enemy to turn hack from the Rappahannock and 
sack Washington. My implicit order that Washington should, by the 
judgment of all the commanders of army corps, be left entirely secure, 
had been neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain Mc- 
Dowell. 

I do not forget that I was satisfied with your arrangement to leave 
Banks at Manassas Junction: but when that arrangement was broken 
up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course I was constrained to 
substitute something for it myself. And allow me to ask, do you really 
think I should permit the line from Richmond, xid Manassas Junction, to 
this city, to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented 
by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops? This is a question 
which the country will not allow me to evade. 

Tiiere is a curious mystery about the number of troops now with you. 
When I telegraphed you on the sixth, saying you had over a hundred 
thousand with you, I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a state- 
ment taken, as he said, fr8m your own returns, making one hundred and 
eight thousand then with you and en route to you. You now say you 
will have but eighty-five thousand when all en route to you shall have 
reached you. How can the discrepancy of twenty-three thousand be 
accounted for? 

As to General Wool's command, I understand it is doing for you pre- 
cisely what a like number of your own would have to do if that command 
was away. 

I suppose the whole force which has gone forward for you is with you 
by this time. And if so, I think it is the precise time for you to strike a 
blow. By delay, the enemy will relatively gain upon you — that is, he 
will gain faster by fortifications and re-enforcements than you can by re- 
enforcements alone. And once more let me tell you, it is indispensable 
to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help this. You will 
do me the justice to remember I always insisted that going down the bay 
in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only 
shifting, and not surmounting a difficulty ; that we would find the same 
enemy, and the same or equal intrenchments, at either place. The coun- 
try will not fuil to note, is now noting, that the present hesitation to 
move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. 

] beg to assure you that I have never written you or spoken to you in 
greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain 
IS 



274 The Life, Public Services, and 

yon, so far as, in my most anxious judgment, I consistently can. Bar 
you must act. Yours, very truly, 

Abraham Lincoln. 
Major-General McClellan. 

In this letter the President only echoed the impatience 
and eagerness of the whole country. The most careful 
inquiries which General Wool, in command at Fortress 
Monroe, had been able to make, satisfied him that York- 
town was not held by any considerable force ; and sub- 
sequent disclosures have made it quite certain that this 
force was so utterly inadequate to the defence of the 
position, that a prompt movement upon it would have 
caused its immediate surrender, and enabled our army to 
advance at once upon Richmond. General McClellan 
decided, however, to approach it by a regular siege ; and 
it was not until this design had become apparent, that the 
rebel Government began to re-enforce Magruder.* He 

* The following extract from the official report of Major-General Magruler, 
dated May 3d, 18G2, and published by order of the Confederate Congress, is con- 
clusive as to the real strength of the force which Gooeral McClellan had in front 
of him at Yorktown : — 

Headquarters, Department of the Peninsula, J A 
Lee's Farm, May 3, 1SG2. J * 

General S. Coor-ER, A. and I. G. C. S. A. : 

General : — Deeming it of vital importance to hold Yorktown on York River, and Mulberry 
Island on James River, and to keep the enemy in check by an intervening line until the author- 
ities might take such steps as should be deemed necessary to meet a serious advance of the ene- 
my in the Peninsula, I felt compelled to dispose of my forces in such a manner as to accomplish 
these objects with the least risk possible under the circumstances of great hazard which sur- 
rounded the little army 1 commanded. 

I had prepared, as my real line of defence, positions in advance at Ilarwood's and Young's 
Mills. Both flanks of this line were defended by boggy and difficult streams and swamps. 
* * * In my opinion, this advanced line, with its flank defences, might have been held 
.by twenty thousand troops. * * * Finding my forces too iceak to attempt the de 
fence of this line, I was compelled to prepare to receive the enemy on a second line on War- 
wick River. This line was incomplete in its preparations. Keeping then only small bodies of 
troops at Ilarwood's and Young's Mills, and on Ship Point, I distributed my remaining forces 
along the Warwick line, embracing a front from Yorktown to Minor's farm of twelve miles, and 
from the latter place to Mulberry Island Point one and a half miles. I was compelled to place 
in Gloucester Point, Yorktown, and Mulberry Is'and, fixed garrisons, amounting to six thou- 
sand men, my whole force being eleven thousand, so that it will be seen that the balance of 
the line, embracing a length of thirteen miles, was defended by about five thousand 
men. 

After the reconnoissances in great force from Fortress Monroe and Newport News, the enemy, 
on the 3d of Apr 5 ', advanced and took possession of Ilarwood's Mill, lie advanced in two heavy 
columns, one along the old York road, and the other along the Warwick road, and on the 5th of 
April appeared simultaneously along the whole part of our line from Minor's farm to Yorktown. 
I ha . - e no accurate data upon which to base an exact statement of his force ; but from various 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 275 

continued his applications to the Government for more 
troops, more cannon, more transportation — all which were 
sent forward to him as rapidly as possible, being taken 
mainly from McDowell's corps. On the 14th of April, 
General Franklin, detached from that corps, reported to 
General McClellan, near Yorktown, but his troops re- 
mained on board the transports. A month was spent in 
this way, the President urging action in the most earnest 
manner, and the commanding general delaying from day 
to day his reiterated promises to commence operations 
immediately. At last, on the morning of the 4th of May, 
it was discovered that the rebels had been busy for a day 
or two in evacuating Yorktown, and that the last of their 
columns had left that place, all their supply trains hav- 
ing been previously removed on the day and night pre- 
ceding. General McClellan, in announcing this event to 
the Government, added that ' ' no time would be lost' ' in 
the pursuit, and that he should "push the enemy to the 
Avail." General Stoneman, with a column of cavalry, 
was at once sent forward to overtake the retreating 
enemy, which he succeeded in doing on the same day, 
and was repulsed. On the 5th, the forces ordered for- 
ward by General McClellan came up, and found a very 
strong rear-guard of the rebels strongly fortified, about 
two miles east of Williamsburg, and prepared to dispute 
the advance of the pursuing troops. It had been known 



sources of information I was satisfied that I had bcforo me the enemy's Army of the Potomac, 
under the command of General McClellan, with the exception of the two corps cVarmee of 
Banks and McDowell respectivclj- — forming an aggregate number certainly of not less than one 
hundred thousand, since ascertained to have bi'en one hundred and twenty thousand men. 

On every portion of my lines he attacked us with a furious cannonading and musketry, which 
was responded to with effect by our batteries and troops of the line. His skirmishers also wero 
well thrown forward on this and the succeeding day, and energetically felt our whole line, but 
were everywhere repulsed by the steadiness of our troops. Thus, with five thousand men, 
exclusive of the garrisons, we stopped and held in check over one hundred thousand of the 
enemy. Every preparation was made in anticipation of another attack by the enemy. The 
men slept in the trenches and under arms, bill, to my utter surprise, he permitted day after 
day to elapse without an assault. 

In a few days the object of hte delay was apparent. In every direction in front of our lines, 
through the intervening woods and along the open fields, earthworks began to appear. 
Through the energetic action of the Government re-enforcements began to pour in, »nd each 
hour the army of the Peninsula grew stronger and stronger, until anxiety parsed from my 
mind as to the result of an attack upon u*. * * * 

J. Bankukad Magbcpee, Ifajor-General. 



276 The Life, Public Services, and 

from the beginning that a very formidable line of forta 
had been erected here, and it ought to have been equally 
well known by the commanding general that the retreat- 
ing enemy would avail himself of them to delay the 
pursuit. General McClellan, however, had evidently 
anticipated no resistance. He remained at his head-qua-r- 
ters, two miles in the rear of Yorktown, until summoned 
by special messenger in the afternoon of the 5th, who 
announced to him that our troops had encountered the 
enemy strongly posted, that a bloody battle was in 
progress, and that his presence on the held was impera- 
tively required. Replying to the messenger that he had 
supposed our troops in front ' ' could attend to that little 
matter," General McClellan left his head-quarters at about 
half-past two, p. m., and reached the field at five. Gen- 
eral Hooker, General Heintzelman, and General Sumner 
had been fighting under enormous difficulties, and with 
heavy losses, during all the early part of the day ; and 
just as the commanding general arrived, General Kearney 
had re-enforced General Hooker, and General Hancock 
had executed a brilliant flank movement, which turned 
the fortunes of the day, and left our forces in possession 
of the field. 

General McClellan does not seem to have understood 
that this affair was simply an attempt of the rebel rear- 
guard to cover the retreat of the main force, and that 
when it had delayed the pursuit it had accomplished its 
whole purpose. He countermanded an order for the 
advance of two divisions, and ordered them back to 
Yorktown ; and in a dispatch sent to the War Depart- 
ment the same night, he treats the battle as an engage- 
ment with the whole rebel army. "I find," he says, 
* ' General Joe Johnston in front of me in strong force, 
probably greater, a good deal, than my own." He again 
complains of the inferiority of his command, says he will 
do all he can "with the force at his disposal," and that 
he should "run the risk of at least holding them in check 
here (at Williamsburg) while he resumed the original 
plan" — which was to send Franklin to West Point by 



State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 277 

water. But the direct pursuit of the retreating rebel 
army was abandoned — owing, as the General said, to the 
bad state of the roads, which rendered it impracticable. 
Some five days were spent at Williamsburg, which en- 
abled the rebels, notwithstanding the ".state of the 
roads, 1 ' to withdraw their whole force across the Chick- 
ahominy, and establish themselves within the fortifica- 
tions in front of Richmond. On the morning of the 7th, 
General Franklin landed at West Point, but too late to 
intercept the main body of the retreating army ; he was 
met by a strong rear-guard, with whom he had a sharp 
but fruitless engagement. 

The York River had been selected as the base of 
operations, in preference to the James, because it "was 
in a better position to effect a junction with any troops 
that might move from Washington on the Fredericksburg 
line ;"* and arrangements were made to procure supplies 
for the army by that route. On the 9th, Norfolk was 
evacuated by the rebels, all the troops withdrawing in 
safety to Richmond ; and the city, on the next day, was 
occupied by General Wool. On the 11th, the formidable 
steamer Merrimack, which had held our whole naval force 
at Fortress Monroe completely in check, was blown up 
by the rebels themselves, and our vessels attempted to 
reopen the navigation of the James River, but were 
repulsed by a heavy battery at Drury's Bluff, eight 
miles below Richmond. After waiting for several days 
for the roads to improve, the main body of the army was 
put in motion on the road towards Richmond, which was 
about forty miles from Williamsburg ; and, on the 16th, 
head-quarters were established at White House, at the 
point where the Richmond Railroad crosses the Pamun- 
key, an affluent of the York River — the main body of the 
army lying along the south bank of the Chickahominy, a 
swampy stream, behind which the rebel army had in- 
trenched itself for the defence of Richmond. 

General McClellan began again to prepare for fighting 

* See General McClellan's testimony — Report of Committee on Conduct o** th» 
War, vol. L, p. 431. 



278 The Life, Public Services, and 

the " decisive "battle" which he had been predicting ever 
since the rebels withdrew from Manassas, but which they 
had so far succeeded in avoiding. A good deal of his at- 
tention, however, was devoted to making out a case of 
neglect against the Government. On the 10th of May, 
when he had advanced but three miles beyond Williams- 
burg, he sent a long dispatch to the War Department, 
reiterating his conviction that the rebels were about to 
dispute his advance with their whole force, and asking 
for "every man" the Government could send him. If 
not re-enforced, he said he should probably be "obliged 
to fight nearly double his numbers strongly intrenched." 
Ten days previously the official returns showed that he 
had one hundred and sixty thousand men under his com- 
mand. On the 14th, he telegraphed the President, reit- 
erating his fears that he was to be met by overwhelming 
numbers, saying that he could not bring more than eighty 
thousand men into the field, and again asking for "every 
man" that the War Department could send him. Even 
if more troops should not be needed for military pur- 
poses, he thought a great display of imposing force in 
the capital of the rebel government would have the best 
moral effect. To these repeated demands the President, 
through the Secretary of War, on the 18th of May, made 
the following reply : — 

* "Washington, 3finj IS— 2 p. m. 

General : — Your dispatch to the President, asking re-enforcements, 
Las been received and carefully considered. 

The President is not willing to uncover the Capital entirely; and it is 
believed that even if this were prudent, it would require more time to 
effect a junction between your army and that of the Rappahannock by tho 
way of the Potomac and York River, than by a land march. In order, 
therefore, to increase the strength of the attack upon Richmond at the 
earliest moment, General McDowell has been ordered to march upon that 
city by the shortest route. He is ordered, keeping himself always in posi- 
tion, to save the Capital from all possible attack, so to operate as to put 
his left wing in communication with your right wing, and you are in- 
structed to co-operate so as to establish this communication as soon aa 
possible by extending your right wing to the north of Richmond. 

It is believed that this communication can be safely established either 
north or south of the Pamunkey River. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 279 

Tn any event, you will be able to prevent tbe main body of tbe enemy's 
forces from leaving Richmond, and falling in overwhelming force upon 
General McDowell. He will move with between thirty-five and forty 
thousand men. 

A copy of the instructions to General McDowell are with this. The 
specific task assigned to his command has been to provide against any 
danger to the capital of the nation. 

At your earliest call for re-enforcements, he is sent forward to co-oper- 
ato in the reduction of Richmond, but charged, in attempting this, not to 
uncover the City of Washington, and you will give no order, either before 
or after your junction, which can put him out of position to cover this 
city. You and ho will communicate with each other by telegraph or 
otherwise, as frequently as may be necessary for sufficient co-operation. 
When General McDowell is in position on your right, his supplies must 
be drawn from West Point, and you will instruct your staff officers to bo 
prepared to supply him by that route. 

The President desires that General McDowell retain the command of 
the Department of the Rappahannock, aud of the forces with which he 
moves forward. 

By order of the President. Edwin M. Stanton. 



In reply to this, on the 21st of May, General McClellan 
repeated his declarations of the overwhelming force of 
the rebels, and urged that General McDowell should join 
him by water instead of by land, going down the Rappa- 
hannock and the bay to Fortress Monroe, and then ascend- 
ing the York and Pamunkey Rivers. He feared there 
was "little hope that he could join him overland in time 
for the coming battle. Delays," he says, "on my part 
will be dangerous : I fear sickness and demoralization. 
This region is unhealthy for Northern men, and unless 
kept moving, I fear that our soldiers may become dis- 
couraged" — a fear that was partially justified by the ex- 
perience of the whole month succeeding, during which 
he kept them idle. He complained also that McDowell 
was not put more completely under his command, and 
declared that a movement by land would uncover Wash- 
ington quite as completely as one by water. He was 
busy at that time in bridging the Chickahominy, and 
gave no instructions, as required, for supplying McDow- 
ell' s forces on their arrival at West Point. 



280 The Life, Puliic Services, and 

To these representations he received fiom the Presi- 
dent the folio wing reply : — 

' Washington, May 24, 1S02. 

I left General McDowell's camp at dark last evening. Shields's com- 
mand is there, but it is so worn that he cannot move before Monday 
morning, the 26th. "We have so thinned our line to get troops for other 
places that it was broken yesterday at Front Royal, with a probable loss 
to us of one regiment infantry, two companies cavalry, putting General 
Banks in some periL 

The enemy's forces, under General Anderson, now opposing General 
McDowell's advance, have, as their line of supply and retreat, the road to 
Richmond. 

If, in conjunction with McDowell's movement against Anderson, you 
could send a force from your right to cut off the enemy's supplies from 
Richmond, preserve the railroad bridge across the two fords of the Pa- 
muukey, and intercept the enemy's retreat, you will prevent the army 
now opposed to you from receiving an accession of numbers of nearly 
fifteen thousand men ; and if you succeed in saving the bridges, you will 
secure a line of railroad for supplies in addition to the one you now have. 
Can you not do this almost as well as not, while you are building the 
Chickahominy bridges? McDowell and Shields both say they can, and 
positively will move Monday morning. I wish you to move cautiously 
and safely. 

You will have command of McDowell, after he joins you, precisely as 
you indicated in your long dispatch to us of the 21st. 

A. Lincoln, President. 

Major-General G. B. McClellax. 

General Banks, it will be remembered, had been sent by 
General McCleUa-n, on the 1st of April, to guard the ap- 
proaches to Washington by the valley of the Shenandoah, 
which were even then menaced by Jackson with a con- 
siderable rebel force. A conviction of the entire insuffi- 
ciency of the forces left for the protection of the Capital 
had led to the retention of McDowell, from whose com- 
mand, however, upon General McClellan's urgent and 
impatient applications, General Franklin's division had 
been detached. On the 23d, as stated in the above letter 
from the President, there were indications of a purpose 
on Jackson's part to move in force against Banks ; and 
this purpose was so clearly developed, and his situation 
"became so critical, that the President was compelled to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 281 

re-enforce him, a movement which lie announced in the 
following dispatch to General McCleilan : — 

May 24, 1S62.— (From "Washington, 4 p. m.) 

In consequence of General Banks's critical position, I have been com- 
pelled to suspend General McDowell's movements to join you. The 
enemy are making a desperate push upon Harper's Ferry, and we aro 
trying to throw General Fremont's force, and part of General McDowell's, 
in their rear. A. Lincoln, President. 

Major-General G. B. McClellan. 

Unable, apparently, or unwilling to concede any thing 
whatever to emergencies existing elsewhere, General 
McClellan remonstrated against the diversion of McDow- 
ell, in reply to which he received, on the 26th, the 
following more full explanation from the President : — 

"Washington, May 25, 1SC2. 
Your dispatch received. General Banks was at Strasburg with about 
six thousand men, Shields having been taken from him to swell a col- 
umn for McDowell to aid you at Richmond, and the rest of his force 
scattered at various places. On the 23d, a rebel force, of seven thousand 
to ten thousand, fell upon one regiment and two companies guarding 
the bridge at Port Royal, destroying it entirely ; crossed the Shenandoah, 
and on the 24th, yesterday, pushed on to get north of Banks on the road 
to Winchester. General Banks ran a race with them, beating them into 
Winchester yesterday evening. This morning a battle ensued between 
the two forces, in which General Banks was beaten back into full retreat 
towards Martinsburg, and probacy is broken up into a total rout. Geary, 
on the Manassas Gap Railroad, just now reports that Jackson is now 
near Front Royal with ten thousand troops, following up and supporting, 
as I understand, the force now pursuing Banks. Also, that another force 
of ten thousand is near Orleans, following on in the same direction. 
Stripped bare, as we are here, I will do all we can to prevent them cross- 
ing the Potomac at Harper's Ferry or above. McDowell has about 
twenty thousand of his forces moving back to the vicinity of Port Royal, 
and Fremont, who was at Franklin, is moving to Harrisonburg — both these 
movements intended to get in the enemy's rear. 

One more of McDowell's brigades is ordered through here to Harper's 
Ferry; the rest of his forces remain for the present at Fredericksburg. 
We are sending such regiments and dribs from here and Baltimore as we 
can spare to Harper's Ferry, supplying their places in some Sort, calling 
in militia from the adjacent States. We also have eighteen cannon on 
the road to Harper's Ferry, of which arm there is not a single one at 
that point. Tins is now our situation. 



282 The Life, Public Services, and 

If McDowell's force was now beyond our reach, we should be entirely 
helpless. Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to 
sustain you, has always been rny reason for withholding McDowell's 
forces from you. 

Please understand this, and do the best you can with the forces you 
have. A. Lincoln, President. 

Major-General McClellan. 

Jackson continued his triumphant march through the 
Shenandoah Valley, and for a time it seemed as if noth- 
ing could prevent his crossing the Potomac, and making 
his appearance in rear of Washington. The President 
promptly announced this state of things to General Mc- 
Clellan in the following dispatch : — 

Washington, May 25, 1S62— 2 r. m. 
The enemy is moving north in sufficient force to drive General Banks 
before him; precisely in what force we cannot tell. He is also threaten- 
ing Leesburg and Geary on the Manassas Gap Railroad, from both north 
and south; in precisely what force we cannot tell. I think the move- 
ment is a general and concerted one. Such as would not be if he was 
acting upon the purpose of a very desperate defence of Richmond. I 
think the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or give 
up the job, and come to the defence of Washington. Let me hear from 
you instantly. A. Lincoln. 

To this General McClellan replied that, independently 
of the President's letter, "the time was very near when 
he should attack Richmond." He knew nothing of 
Banks's position and force, but thought Jackson's move- 
ment was designed to prevent re-enforcements "being sent 
to him. 

On the 26th, the President announced to General Mc- 
Clellan the safety of Banks at Williamsport, and then 
turned his attention, with renewed anxiety, to the move- 
ment against Richmond, urging General McClellan, if 
possible, to cut the railroad between that city and the 
Rappahannock, over which the enemy obtained their 
supplies. The General, on the evening of the 26th, in- 
formed him that he was "quietly closing in upon the 
enemy preparatory to the last struggle" — that he felt 
forced to take every possible precaution against disaster, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 283 

and that his "arrangements for the morrow were very 
important, and if successful would leave him free to 
strike on the return of the force attacked." The move- 
ment here referred to was one against a portion of the 
rebel forces at Hanover Court-House, which threatened 
McDowell, and was in a position to re-enforce Jackson. 
The expedition was under command of General Fitz- John 
Porter, and proved a success. General McClellan on the 
28th announced it to the Government as a "complete 
rout" of the rebels, and as entitling Porter to the highest 
honors. In the same dispatch he said he would do his 
best to cut off Jackson from returning to Richmond, but 
doubted if he could. The great battle was about to be 
fought before Richmond, and he adds : " It is the policy 
and the duty of the Government to send me by water all 
the well-drilled troops available. All unavailable troops 
should be collected here." Porter, he said, had cut 
all the railroads but the one from Richmond to Fred- 
ericksburg, which was the one concerning which the 
President had evinced the most anxiety. Another 
expedition was sent to the South Anna River and 
Ashland, which destroyed some bridges without op- 
position. This was announced to tjie Government by 
General McClellan as another "complete victory " achiev- 
ed by the heroism of Porter — accompanied by the state- 
ment that the enemy were even in greater force than 
he had supposed. " I will do," said the dispatch, "all 
that quick movements can accomplish, and you must 
send me all the troops you can, and leave to me full 
latitude as to choice of commanders." In reply, the 
President sent him the following : — 

■Wasiiixgton, May 28, 1S62. 
I am very glad of General F. J. Porter's victory ; still, if it was a total 
rout of the enemy, I am puzzled to know why the Richmond and Fred- 
ericksburg Railroad was not seized again, as you say you have all the 
railroads but the Richmond and Fredericksburg. I am puzzled to see 
how, lacking that, you can have any, except the scrap from Richmond to 
"West Point. The scrap of the Virginia Central, from Richmond to Han- 
over Junction, without core, is simply nothing. That the whole of the 
enemy is concentrating on Richmond, I think, cannot be certainly kuown 



284 The Life, Public Services, and 

to yo;i or me. Saxton, at Harper's Ferry, informs us that large force?, 
supposed to be Jackson's and Ewell's, forced his advance from Charles- 
town to-day. General King telegraphs us from Fredericksburg that con- 
trabands give certain information that fifteen thousand left Hanover 
Junction Monday morning to re-enforce Jackson. I am painfully im- 
pressed with the importance of the struggle before you, and shall aid you 
all I can consistently with my view of the due regard to all points. 

A. Lincoln. 
Major-General McClellan. 

To a dispatch reporting tlie destruction of tlie South 
Anna Railroad bridge, the President replied thus: — • 

Washington, May '29. 1S62. 

Your dispatch as to the South Anna and Ashland being seized by 

our forces this morning is received. Understanding these points to be 

on the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad, I heartily congratulate 

the country, and thank General MeClellan and his army for their seizure. 

A. Lincoln. 

On the 30th, General MeClellan telegraphed to the Sec- 
retary of War, complaining that, the Government did not 
seem to appreciate the magnitude of Porter's victory, and 
saying that his army was now well in hand, and that 
" another day will make the probable field of battle pass 
able for artillery." 

On the 25th of May, General Keyes with the Fourth 
Corps had been ordered across the Chickahominy, and was 
followed by the Third, under General Heintzelman — cue 
division of the Fourth, under General Casey, being pushed 
forward within seven miles of Richmond, to Seven Pines, 
which he was ordered to hold at all hazards. On the 28th, 
General Keyes was ordered to advance Casey's Division 
three-quarters of a mile to Fair Oaks. General Keyes 
obeyed the order, but made strong representations to head- 
quarters of the extreme danger of pushing these troops so 
far in advance without adequate support, and requested 
that General Heintzelman might be brought within sup- 
porting distance, and that a stronger force might be crossed 
over the Chickahominy to be in readiness for the general 
engagement which these advances would be very likely 
to bring on. These requests were neglected, and General 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 285 

Keyes "was regarded and treated as an alarmist. On the 
afternoon of the 30th he made a personal examination of 
his front, and reported that he was menaced by an over- 
whelming force of the enemy in front and on both flanks, 
and he again urged the necessity for support, to which he 
received a very abrupt reply that no more troops would 
be crossed over, and that the Third Corps would not be ad- 
vanced unless he was attacked. At about noon the next 
day he was attacked on both flanks and in front, General 
Casey' s Division driven back with heavy loss, and in spite 
of a stubborn and gallant resistance on the part of his. 
corps, General Keyes was compelled to fall back with 
severe losses, some two miles, when the enemy was check- 
ed, and night put an end to the engagement. On hearing 
the firing at head-quarters, some four miles distant, Gen- 
eral McClellan ordered General Sumner to hold his com- 
mand in readiness to move. General Sumner not only did 
so, but moved them at once to the bridge, and on receiv- 
ing authority crossed over, and, by the greatest exertions 
over muddy roads, reached the field of battle in time to 
aid in checking the rebel advance for the night, Early 
the next morning the enemy renewed the attack with great 
vigor, but the arrival of General Sumner, and the advance 
of General Heintzelman' s Corps, enabled our forces, though 
still greatly inferior, not only to repel the assault, but to 
inflict upon the enemy a signal defeat, They were driven 
back in the utmost confusion and with terrible losses upon 
Richmond, where their arrival created the utmost con- 
sternation, as it was taken for granted they would be 
immediately followed by our whole army. 

General McClellan, who had remained with the main 
body of the army on the other side of the Chickahominy 
during the whole of the engagements of both days, crossed 
the river after the battle was over, and visited the field. 
"The state of the roads/' he says, "and the impossibil- 
ity of manoeuvring artillery, prevented pursuit." He re- 
turned to head-quarters in the afternoon. On the next 
day, June 2d, General Heintzelman sent forward a strong 
reconnoitring party under General Hooker, which went 



286 The Life, Public Services, and 

within four miles of Richmond without finding any en- 
emy. Upon being informed of this fact, General McClel- 
lan ordered the force to fall back to its old position, 
assigning the bad state of the roads as the reason for not 
attempting either to march upon Richmond, or even to 
hold the ground already gained. In a dispatch to Wash- 
ington on the 2d, he states that he " only waits for the 
river to fall to cross with the rest of the army and make 
a general attack. The morale of my troops," he adds, 
" is now such that I can venture much. I do not fear for 
odds against me." It seems to have been his intention 
then, to concentrate his forces for an immediate advance 
upon the rebel capital, though in his report, written more 
than a year afterwards, he says the idea of uniting the 
two wings of the army at that time for a vigorous move 
upon Richmond was " simply absurd, and was probably 
never seriously entertained by any one connected with the 
Army of the Potomac."* 

The Government at once took measures to strengthen 
the army by all the means available. An order was issued, 
placing at his command all the disposable forces at Fortress 
Monroe, and another ordering McDowell to send McCair s 
division to him by water from Fredericksburg. McDoAvell 
or Fremont was expected to fight Jackson at Front Royal, 
after which, part of their troops would become available 
for the Army of the Potomac. On the 4th, General 
McClellan telegraphed that it was raining, that the river 
was still high, that he had "to be very cautious," that 
he expected another severe battle, and hoped, after our 
heavy losses, he "should no longer be regarded as an 
alarmist." On the 5th, the Secretary of War sent him 
word that troops had been embarked for him at Baltimore, 
to which he replied on the 7th, " I shall be in perfect 
7 eadiness to move forward and, take Richmond tit e moment 
McCall readies here, and tlte ground will admit the pas- 
sage of artillery.'''' .On the 10th, General McCall' s forces 
began to arrive at White House, and on the same day 

* See General McClellan's Report, August 4, 1SG3. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 287 

General McClellan telegraphed to the department that a 
rumor had reached him that the rebels had been re-enforced 
by Beauregard — that he thought a portion of Halleck's 
army from Tennessee should be sent to strengthen him, 
but that he should " attack with what force he had, as 
soon as the weather and ground will permit — but there 
will be a delay," he added, "the extent of which no one 
can foresee, for the season is altogether abnormal." The 
Secretary of War replied that Halleck would be urged 
to comply with his request if he could safely do so — that 
neither Beauregard nor his army was in Richmond, that 
McDowell's force would join him as soon as possible, that 
Fremont had had an engagement, not wholly successful, 
with Jackson, and closing with this strong and cordial 
assurance of confidence and support : — 

Be assured, General, that there never has heen a moment when my de- 
sire has been otherwise than to aid you with my whole heart, mind, and 
strength, since the hour we first met ; and whatever others may say for 
their own purposes, you have never had, and never can have, any one 
more truly your friend, or more anxious to support you, or more joyful 
than I shall be at the success which, I have no doubt, will soon be achieved 
by your arms. 

On the 14th, General McClellan wrote to the War 
Department that the weather was favorable, and that 
two days more would make the ground practicable. He 
still urges the propriety of sending him more troops, but 
finds a new subject of complaint in a telegram he had 
received from McDowell. The latter, on the Sth, had 
received the following orders :— 

The Secretary of War directs that, having first provided adequately for 
the defence of the City of Washington and for holding the position at 
Fredericksburg, you operate with the residue of your force as speedily as 
possible in the direction of Richmond to co-operate with Major-General 
McClellan, in accordance with the instructions heretofore given you. Mo- 
CalVs Division, which lias been by previous order directed towards Rich- 
mond by water, will still for m a part of the Army of the Rappahannock, 
and will come under your orders when you are in a position to co-operat* 
voith General McClellan. 



283 The Life, Public Services, and 

General McDowell had telegraphed McClellan as fol- 
lows on the 10th of June : — 

For the third time I am ordered to join yon, and hope this time to get 
through. In view of the remarks made vt ith reference to my leaving 
you, and not joining you hefore, by your friends, and of something I 
have heard as coming from you on that subject, I wish to say, I go with 
the greatest satisfaction, and hope to arrive with my main body in time 
to be of service. McCall goes in advance by water. I will be with you 
in ten days with the remainder by Fredericksburg. 

And again, June 12th: — 

The delay of Major-General Banks to relieve the division of my com- 
mand in the valley beyond the time I had calculated on, will prevent my 
joining you with the remainder of the troops I am to take below at as 
early a day as I named. My Third Division (McCaH's) is now on the way. 
Please do me the favor to so place it that it may he in a ftosition to join 
the others as they come down from Fredericksburg. 

These telegrams, it will be seen, are in accordance with 
the orders to McDowell of the 8th, which directed that 
McCall' s Division should continue to form part of the 
Army of the Rappahannock, and required that McDowell 
should operate in the direction of Richmond, to co-oper- 
ate with McClellan in accordance with instructions here- 
tofore given him. 

These instructions are those of the 17th and ISth of 
May, concerning which McClellan sent to the President 
his long telegram of the 21st, in which he says : — 

This fact (McDowell's forces coming within his department), my supe- 
rior rank, and the express language of the sixty-second article of war, 
will place his command under my orders, unless it is otherwise specially 
directed by your Excellency, and I consider that he will be under my 
command, except that I am not to detach any portion of his forces, or 
give any orders which can put him out of position to cover Washington 

To this the President answered : — 

Yon will have command of McDowell after he joins you, precisely as 

you indicated in your long dispatch to us of the 21st. 

In regard to this, McClellan, in his report (August 4th, 
1SG3), says :- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 289 

This information, that McDowell's Corps would march from Fredericks- 
burg on the following Monday — the 26th — and that he would be under 
my command as indicated in my telegram of the 21st, was cheering news, 
and I now felt confident that we would, on his arrival, be sufficiently 
strong to overpower the large army confronting us.. 

Yet in the simple request of McDowell, as to the 
posting of his Third (McCall' s) Division — made to carry 
out the plan — the news of which, McClellan says, was so 
cheering, and inspired him with such confidence, Mc- 
Clellan sees nothing but personal ambition on McDowell's 
part, and protests against that "spirit" in the following 
terms : — 

That request does not breathe the proper spirit. Whatever troops 
come to me must be disposed of so as to do the most good. I do not feel 
that, in such circumstances as those in which I am now placed, General 
McDowell should wish the general interests to be sacrificed for the pur- 
pose of increasing his command. 

If I cannot fully control all his troops, I want none of them, but would 
prefer to fight the battle with what I have, and let others be responsible foi 
the resul is. 

The department lines should not be allowed to interfere with me ; Lai 
General McD., and all other troops sent to me, should be placed complete- 
ly at my disposal, to do with them as I think best. In no other way ca& 
they be of assistance to me. I therefore request that I may have entire 
and full control. The stake at issue is too great to allow personal con- 
siderations to be entertained : you know that I have none. 

It had been suggested, in some of the journals of the 
day, that General McDowell might possibly advance 
upon Richmond from the north, without waiting for 
McClellan : it is scarcely possible, however, that any 
suspicion of such a purpose could have had any thing to 
do with General McClellan' s reiterated and emphatic 
desire that McDowell should join him by water, so as to 
be in his rear, and not by land, which would bring him 
on his front — with his peremptory demand that all Mc- 
Dowell's troops should be " completely at his disposal," 
with his indignant protest against McDowell's personal 
ambition, or with his conviction of the propriety and 
necessity of disavowing all personal considerations for 
liimself. But it is certainly a little singular that a com- 

19 



290 The Life, Public Services, and 

mander, intrusted with an enterprise of such transcendent 
importance to his army and country, who had been so 
urgently calling for re-enforcements as absolutely indis- 
pensable to success, should have preferred not to receive 
them, but to figlit the battle with what he had, rather 
than have the co-operation of McDowell under the two 
conditions fixed by the President, (1) that he should not 
deprive him of his troops, or, (2) post them so as to 
prevent their being kept interposed between the enemy 
and Washington. Even if he could leave " others to be 
responsible for the results," it is not easy to see how he 
could reconcile the possibility of adverse results with his 
professedly paramount concern for the welfare of his 
country. 

On the 20th of June, he telegraphed the President that 
troops to the number of probably ten thousand had left 
Richmond to re-enforce Jackson ; that his defensive 
works on the Chickahominy, made necessary by his 
" inferiority of numbers," would be completed the next 
day ; and that he would be glad to learn the "disposi- 
tion, as to numbers and position, of the troops not under 
his command, in Virginia and elsewhere," as also to lay 
before his Excellency, "by letter or telegraph, his views 
as to the present state of military affairs throughout the 
whole country" To this he received the following 
reply :— 

Washington, June 21, 1SC2 — 6 p. m. 

Tour dispatch of yesterday, two p. m., was received this morning. If 
it would not divert too much of your time and attention from the army 
under your immediate command, I would be glad to Lave your views as 
to the present state of military affairs throughout the whole country, as 
you say you would he glad to give them. I would rather it should be by 
letter than by telegraph, because of the better chance of secrecy. As to the 
numbers and positions of the troops not under your command in Virginia 
and elsewhere, even if I could do it with accuracy, which I cannot, I 
would rather not transmit, either by telegraph or letter, because of the 
chances of its reaching the enemy. I would be very glad to talk with 
you, bat you cannot leave your camp, and I cannot well leave here. 

A. Lincoln, President. 
Major-General George B. McCi-ellan". ; 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 291 

The President also stated that the news of Jackson's 
having been re-enforced from Richmond was confirmed 
by General King at Fredericksburg, and added, " If this 
is true, it is as good as a re-enforcement to you of an 
equal force." In acknowledging the first dispatch, Gen- 
eral McClellan said, he "perceived that it would be 
better to defer the communication he desired to make" 
on the condition of the country at large ; he soon, indeed, 
had occasion to give all his attention to the army under 
his command. 

General McClellan had been, for nearly a month, de- 
claring his intention to advance upon Richmond imme- 
diately. At times, as has been seen from his dispatches, 
the movement was fixed for specific days, though in 
every instance something occurred, when the decisive 
moment arrived, to cause a further postponement. On 
the 18th, again announcing his intention to advance, lie 
said that a ' ' general engagement might take place at any 
7iour, as an advance by us involves a battle more or less 
decisive." But in the same dispatch lie said, "After to- 
morrow we shall fight the rebel army as soon as Provi- 
dence will permit." But in this case, as in every other, 
in spite of his good intentions, and the apparent permis- 
sion of Providence, General McClellan made no move- 
ment in advance, but waited until he was attacked. He 
had placed his army astride the Chickahominy — the left 
wing being much the strongest and most compact, the 
right being comparatively weak and very extended. He 
had expended, however, a great deal of labor in bridging 
the stream, so that either wing could have been thrown 
across with great ease and celerity. Up to the 24th of 
June, General McClellan believed Jackson to be in strong 
force at Gordonsville, where he was receiving re-enforce- 
ments from Richmond with a view to operations in that 
quarter. But on that day he was told by a deserter that 
Jackson was planning a movement to attack his right and 
rear on the 28th. and this information was confirmed by 
advices from the War Department on the 25th. On that 
day, being convinced that he is to be attacked, and will 



292 The Life, Public Services, and 

therefore be compelled to fight, he writes to the Depart- 
ment to throw upon others the responsibility of an antici- 
pated defeat. He declares the rebel force to be some two 
hundred thousand, regrets his " great inferiority of num- 
bers," but protests that he is not responsible for it, as he 
has repeatedly and constantly called for re-enforcements, 
and declares that if the result of the action is a disaster, 
the " responsibility cannot be thrown on his shoulders, 
but must rest where it belongs." He closes by announ- 
cing that a reconnoissance which he had ordered had 
proved successful, that he should probably be attacked 
the next day, and that he felt "that there was no use in 
again asking for re-enforcements." To this the President 
replied as follows : — 

Washington, June 26, 1S62. 
Tour three dispatches of yesterday in relation, ending with the state- 
ment that you completely succeeded in making your point, are very grati- 
fying. The later one, suggesting the probability of your Leing over- 
whelmed by two hundred thousand men, and talking of to whom the re • 
sponsibility will belong, pains me very much. I give you all I can, and 
act on the presumption that you will do the best you can with what you 
have ; while you continue, ungenerously, I think, to assume that I could 
give you more if I would. I have omitted — I shall omit — no opportunity 
to send you re-enforcements whenever I can. A. Lincoln. 

General McClellan had foreseen the probability of be- 
ing attacked, and had made arrangements for a defeat. 
"More than a week previous," he says in his report, 
"that is, on the 18th," he had prepared for a retreat to 
the James River, and had ordered supplies to that point. 
His extreme right was attacked at Mechanicsville on the 
afternoon of the 26th, but the enemy were repulsed. The 
movement, however, disclosed the purpose of the rebel 
army to crush his right wing and cut off his communica- 
tions, if possible. Two plans were open to his adoption : 
he might have brought over his left wing, and so strength- 
ened his right as to give it a victory, or he might have 
withdrawn his right across the Chickahominy — in itself a 
strong defensive line — and have pushed his whole force into 
Richmond, and upon the rear of the attacking force. Con- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 293 

centration seemed to "be absolutely essential to success in 
any event. But lie did not attempt it. He left the right 
wing to contend next day with thirty thousand men, 
without support, against the main body of the rebel 
army, and only withdrew it acioss the Chickahominy 
after it had been beaten with terrific slaughter on the 
27th, in the battle of Gaines's .Mill. On the evening 
of that day he informed his corps commanders of his 
purpose to mil back to the James River, and withdrew 
the remainder of his right wing across the Chicka- 
hominy. On the next day the whole army was put in 
motion on the retreat, and General McClellan found time 
again to reproach the Government with neglect of his 
army. If he had ten thousand fresh men to use at once, 
he said, he could take Richmond ; but, as it was, all he 
could do would be to cover his retreat. He repeated that 
he ' ' was not responsible ' ' for the result, and that he must 
have instantly very large re -enforcements ; and closed by 
saying to the Secretary of War — what we do not believe 
any subordinate was ever before permitted to say to his 
superior officer without instant dismissal — "If I save this 
army now, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you 
or to any persons in Wasldngton : you 7iave done your 
best to sacrifice this army." 
To this dispatch the President replied as follows : — 

"Washington, June 23, 1S62. 
Save your army at all events. Will send re-enforcements as fast as wo 
can. Of course they cannot reach you to-day, to-morrow, or nest day. 
I have not said you were ungenerous for saying you needed re-enforce- 
ments; I thought you were ungenerous in assuming that I did not send 
them as fast as I could. I feel any misfortune to you and your army quite 
as keenly as you feel it yourself. If you have had a drawn battle or a 
repulse, it is the price we pay for the enemy not being in Washington. 
We protected Washington, and the enemy concentrated on you. Had we 
stripped Washington, he would have been upon us before the troops sent 
could have got to you. Less than a week ago you notified us that re- 
enforcements were leaving Richmond to come in front of us. It is the 
nature of the case, and neither you nor the Government is to blame. 

A. Lincoln. 

Under general orders from General McClellan, he and 



294 The Life, Public Services, and 

his staff proceeding in advance, and leaving word where 
the corps commanders were to make successive stands to 
resist pursuit, hut taking no part personally in any one 
of the succeeding engagements, the army continued its 
march towards James River. They first resisted and re- 
pulsed the pursuing rebels on the 29th at Savage Station, 
in a "bloody battle, fought under General Sumner, and on 
the 30th had another severe engagement at Glendale. 
On the 1st of July, our troops, strongly posted at Mal- 
vern Hill, were again attacked by the rebels, whom they 
repulsed and routed with terrible slaughter ; and orders 
were at once issued for the further retreat of the army to 
Harrison's Landing, which General McClellan had per- 
sonally examined and selected on the day before. Even 
before the battle of Malvern Hill, he had telegraphed to 
Washington for "fresh troops," saying he should fall 
back to the river if possible; to which dispatch he 
received the following reply : — 

Washington, July 1, 1SG2— 3.30 p. m. 

It is impossible to re-enforce you for your present emergency. If we 
had a million of men we could not get them to you in time. We Lave 
not the men to send. If you are not strong enough to face the enemy, 
you must find a place of security, and wait, rest, and repair. Maintain 
your ground if you can, but save the army at all events, even if you fall 
back to Fort Monroe. We still have strength enough in the country, and 
will bring it out. 

A. Lincoln'. 

Major-General G. B. McClellan. 

On the next day, in reply to a request from General 
McClellan for fifty thousand more troops, the President 
thus addressed him : — 

"Washington, July 2, 18C2. 
Your dispatch of yesterday induces me to hope that your army is hav- 
ing some rest. In this hope, allow me to reason with you for a moment. 
When you ask for fifty thousand men to be promptly sent you, you surely 
labor under some gross mistake of fact. Recently you sent papers show- 
ing your disposal of forces made last spring for the defence of Washington, 
and advising a return to that plan. I find it included in and about Wash- 
ington seventy-five thousand men. Now, please be assured that I have 
not men enough to fill that very plan by fifteen thousand. All of General 
Fremont's in the Valley, all of General Banks's, all of General McDowell's 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 295 

not with von, and all in Washington taken together, do not exceed, if they 
reach, sixty thousand. With General Wool and General L)ix added to 
those mentioned, I have not, outside of your army, seventy-five thousand 
men east of the mountains. Thus, the idea of sending you fifty thousand, 
or any other considerable force promptly, is simply absurd. If, in your 
* frequent mention of responsibility, you have the impression that I blame 
you for not doing more than you can, please be relieved of such impres- 
sion. I only beg that, in like manner, you will not ask impossibilities 
of me. If you think you are not strong enough to take Richmond just 
now, I do not ask you to try just now. Save the army, material, and 
personnel, and I will strengthen it for the offensive again as fast as I can. 
The Governors of eighteen States offer me a new levy of three hundred 
thousand, which I accept. A. Lincoln. 

On the next day, the 3d, General JtfcClellan again wrote 
for one hundred thousand men — "more rather than less," 
in order to enable him to " accomplish the great task of 
capturing Richmond, and putting an end to the rebellion ;" 
and at the same time he sent his chief of staff, General 
Marcy, to Washington, in order to secure a perfect under- 
standing of the state of the army. The General said he 
hoped the enemy was as completely worn out as his own 
army, though he apprehended a new attack, from which, 
\ however, he trusted the bad condition of the roads might 
protect him. On the 4th, he repeated his call for "heavy 
re-enforcements," but said he held a very strong position, 
from which, with the aid of the gunboats, he could only 
be driven by overwhelming numbers. On the same day 
he received the following from the President : — 

Wae Department, Washington City, D. C, July 4, 1S62. 

I understand your position as stated in your letter, and by GenerrJ 
Marcy. To re-enforce you so as to enable you to resume the offensive 
within a month, or even six weeks, is impossible. In addition to that 
arrived and now arriving from the Potomac (about ten thousand men, I 
suppose), and about ten thousand, I hope, you will have from Burnside 
very soon, and about five thousand from Hunter a little later, I do not see 
how I can send you another man within a month. Under these circum- 
stances, the defensive, for the present, must be your only care. Save the 
army, first, where you are, if you caw; and secondly, by removal, if you must. 
You, on the ground, must be the judge as to which you will attempt, 
and of the means for effecting it. I but give it as my opinion, that with 
the aid of the gunboats and the re-enforcements mentioned above, you 



296 The Life, Public Services, and 

can hold your present position ; provided, and so long as you can keep 
the James River open helowyou. If you are not tolerably confident you 
can keep the James River open, you had better remove as soon as pos- 
sible. I do not remember that you have expressed any apprehension as 
to the danger of having your communication cut on the >»ver below you, 

yet I do not suppose it can have escaped your attention. 

A. Lincoln. 

p. S _If at any time you feel able to take tho offensive, you are not 
restrained from doing so. A. L. 

At this point, on the 7th of July, General McClellan 
sent the President a letter of advice on the general con- 
duct of his Administration. He thought the time had come 
"when the Government should determine upon a civil 
and military policy covering the whole ground of our 
national trouble," and he proceeded to lay down the basis 
of such a policy as ought to be adopted. The war against 
the rebellion, he said, "should not be a war looking to 
the subjugation of the people of any State in any event. 
Neither confiscation of property, political execution of 
persons, territorial organization of States, nor forcible 
abolition of slavery, should be contemplated for a mo- 
ment." He added : — 

Military power should not be allowed to interfere with the relations of 
servitude, either by supporting or impairing the authority of the master, 
except for repressing disorder, as in other cases. Slaves, contraband, under 
the act of Congress, seeking military protection, should receive it. The 
right of the Government to appropriate permanently to its own service 
claims to slave labor, should be asserted, and the right of the owner to 
compensation therefor should be recognized. This principle might be 
extended, upon grounds of military necessity and security, to all the slaves 
of a particular State, thus working manumission in such State ; and in 
Missouri, perhaps in Western Virginia also, and possibly even in Maryland, 
the expediency of such a measure is only a question of time. * * * 

Unless the principles governing the future conduct of our struggle shall 
be made known and approved, the effort to obtain requisite forces will be 
almost hopeless. A declaration of radical views, especially upon slavery, 
i will rapidly disintegrate our present armies. 

He closed this letter by saying that to carry out these 
views the President would require a Commander-in-Chief 
Who possessed his confidence and could execute his orders ; 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 297 

he did not ask that place for himself, hut would serve in 
any position that might be assigned him. "I may he,' 
he adds, "on the brink of eternity; and as I hope for 
forgiveness from my Maker, I have written this letter with 
sincerity towards you, and from love for my country." 

The President, instead of entering upon a discussion as 
to the general policy of his Administration, continued to 
urge the General' s attention to the state of his own army ; 
and in order to inform himself more accurately as to its 
actual condition and prospects, visited the camp on the 
8th of July, at Harrison' s Landing. The actual strength 
of the army seems to have "been at that time a matter of 
considerable difference of opinion ; and in regard to it, on 
returning to Washington, the President thus addressed 
the General : — 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, July 13, 18C3. 
Ht Dear Sir: — I am told that over one hundred and sixty thousand 
men have gone with your army on the Peninsula. When I was with you 
the other day, we made out eighty-six thousand remaining, leaving seventy- 
three thousand five hundred to be accounted for. I believe three thousand 
five hundred will cover all the killed, wounded, and missing, in all your 
battles and skirmishes, leaving fifty thousand who have left otherwise. 
Not more than five thousand of these have died, leaving forty-five thou- 
sand of your army still alive, and not with it. I believe half or two- 
thirds of them are fit for duty to-day. Have you any more perfect 
knowledge of this than I have ? If I am right, and you had these men 
with you, you could go into Richmond in the next three days. How can 
they be got to you, and how can they be prevented from getting away in 
buch numbers for the future ? A. Lincoln. 

In reply to this letter, the General disclosed the fact that 
thirty-eight thousand two hundred and fifty men of his 
army were absent by authority — i. e., on furloughs granted 
by permission of the Commanding General. The actual 
number of troops composing his army on the 20th of July, 
according to official returns, was one hundred and fifty • 
eight thousand three hundred and fourteen, and the aggre- 
gate losses in the retreat to the James River was fifteen 
thousand two hundred and forty-nine. 

During the President's visit to the camp, the future 
movements of the army were a subject of anxious delib- 



298 The Life, Public Services, and 

eration. It was understood that the rebels were gather- 
ing large forces for another advance upon Washington, 
which was comparatively unprotected — and as. General 
McClellan did not consider himself strong enough to take 
the offensive, it was felt to be absolutely necessary to con- 
centrate the army, either on the Peninsula or in fi ont of 
Washington, for the protection of the Capital. The former 
course, after the experience of the past season, was felt 
to be exceedingly hazardous, and the corps commanders 
of the Army of the Potomac were decidedly in favor of 
the latter. General McClellan at once addressed himself 
to the task of defeating the project. On the 11th, he tele 
graphed to the President that "the army was in fine 
spirits, and that he hoped he would soon make him strong 
enough to try again." On the 12th, he said he was "more 
and more convinced that the army ought not to be with- 
drawn, but promptly re-enforced and thrown again upon 
Richmond." He " dreaded the effects of any retreat on 
the morale of his men" — though his previous experience 
should have obviated any such apprehension in his mind. 
"If we have a little more than half a chance," he said, 
"we can take Richmond." On the 17th, he urged that 
General Burnside's whole command in North Carolina 
should be ordered to join him, to enable him to "assume 
the offensive as soon as possible." On the 18th, he re- 
peated this request ; and on the 28th, again urged that he 
should be "at once re- enforced by all available troops." 
On the 25th, General Halleck had visited the camp, and, 
after a careful inspection of the condition of the army, 
called an informal council of the officers, a majority of 
whom, upon learning the state of affairs, recommended its 
withdrawal from the Peninsula. On the 30th, he issued 
an order to General McClellan to make arrangements at 
once for a prompt removal of all the sick in his army, in 
order to enable him to move "in any direction." On the 
2d of August, not having received any reply, General 
Halleck renewed his order to "remove them as rapidly 
as possible;" to which, on the 3d, General McClellan 
replied .that it was "impossible to decide what cases to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 209 

Bend off unless lie knew what was to Ibe done with the 
army" — and that if he was to "be "kept longer in igno- 
rance of what was to be effected, he could not be expected 
to accomplish the object in view." In reply, General 
Halleck informed him that his army was to be ' ' with- 
drawn from the Peninsula to Aquia Creek," but that the 
withdrawal should be concealed even from his own offi- 
cers. General McClellan, on the 4th, wrote a long protest 
against this movement — saying it mattered not what par- 
tial reverses might be sustained elsewhere — there was the 
"true defence of Washington," and he asked that the 
order might be rescinded. To this letter, after again 
urging General McClellan on the 4th to hasten the removal 
of the sick, which he was ' ' expected to have done with- 
out waiting to know what were or would be the intentions 
of the Government respecting future movements," Gen- 
eral Halleck on the 6th addressed him as follows : — 

HeAD-QcTA'RTFKS OE THE AkMT, 1 

Wasuinoton, August 6, 1SG2. ) 

General : — Your telegram of yesterday was received this morning, and 
I immediately telegraphed a brief reply, promising to write you more 
fully by mail. 

You, General, certainly could not have been more pained at receiving 
my order than I was at the necessity of issuing it. I was advised by 
high officers, in whose judgment I had great confidence, to make the 
order immediately on my arrival here, but I determined not to do so 
until I could learn your wishes from a personal interview. And even 
after that interview I tried every means in my power to avoid withdraw- 
ing your army, and delayed my decision as long as I dared to delay it. 

I assure you, General, it was not a hasty and inconsiderate act, but 
one that caused me more anxious thoughts than any other of my life. 
But after full and mature consideration of all the pros and cons, I was 
reluctantly forced to the conclusion that the order must be issued — there 
was to my mind no alternative. 

Allow me to allude to a few of the facts in the case. 

You and your officers at our interview estimated the enemy's forces in 
and around Richmond at two hundred thousand men. Since then, you 
and others report that they have received and are receiving large 
re-enforcements from the South. General Pope's army, covering Wash- 
ington, is only about forty thousand. Your effective force is only about 
ninety thousand. You are thirty miles from Richmond, and General 
Pope eighty or ninety, with the enemy directly oeticeen you, ready to fall 



300 The Life, Public Services, and 

with Mh superior numbers tqyon one or the other as he may elect ; neither 
can re-enforce the other in case of such an attach. 

If General Pope's army be diminished to re-enforce you, Washington, 
Maryland, and Pennsylvania would be left uncovered and exposed. If 
your force be reduced to strengthen Pope, you would be too weak to 
even hold the position you now occupy, should the enemy turn round 
and attack you in full force. In other words, the old Army of the 
Potomac is split into two parts, with the entire force 'of the enemy 
directly between them. They cannot be united by land without expo- 
sing both to destruction, and yet they must be united. To send Pipe's 
forces by water to the Peninsula is, under present circumstances, a 
military impossibility. The only alternative is to send the forces on the 
Peninsula to some point by water, say Fredericksburg, where the two 
armies can be united. 

Let me now allude to some of the objections which you have urged: 
y<»u say that the withdrawal from the present position will cause the 
certain demoralization of the army, "which is now in excellent discipline 
and condition." 

I cannot understand why a simple change of position to a new and 
by no means distant base will demoralize an army in excellent discipline, 
unless the officers themselves assist in that demoralization, which I am 
satisfied they will not. 

Your change of front from your extreme right at Hanover Court-House 
to your present condition was over thirty miles, but I have not heard 
that it demoralized your troops, notwithstanding the severe losses they 
sustained in effecting it. 

A new base on the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg brings you within 
about sixty miles of Richmond, and secures a re-enforcement of forty or 
fifty thousand fresh and disciplined troops. 

The change with such advantages will, I think, if properly represented 
to your army, encourage rather than demoralize your troops. Moreover, 
you yourself suggested that a junction might be effected at Yorktcwn, 
but that a flank march across the isthmus would be more hazardous than 
to retire to Fort Monroe. 

You will remember that Yorktown is two or three miles further than 
Fredericksburg is. Besides, the latter is between Richmond and Wash- 
ington, and covers Washington from any attack of the enemy. 

The political effect of the withdrawal may at first be unfavorable ; but 
I think the public are beginning to understand its necessity, and that they 
will have much more confidence in a united army than in its separated 
fragments. 

But you will reply, why not re-enforce me here, so that I can strike 
Richmond from my present position ? To do this, you said, at our inter- 
view, that you required thirty thousand additional troops. I told you 
that it was impossible to give you so many. You finally thought you 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 301 

■would have " some chance " of success with twenty thousand. But you 
afterwards telegraphed me that you would require thirty-five thousand, 
as the enemy was heing largely re-enforced. 

If your estimate of the enemy's strength was correct, your requisition 
was perfectly reasonable ; but it was utterly impossible to till it until 
new troops could be enlisted and organized, which would require several 
weeks. 

To keep your army in its present position until it could be so re-en- 
forced would almost destroy it in that climate. 

The months of August and September are almost fatal to whites who 
live on that part of James River; and even after you received the re-en- 
forcements asked for, you admitted that you must reduce Fort Darling 
and the river batteries before you could advance on Richmond. 

It is by no means certain that the reduction of these fortifications 
would not require considerable time — perhaps as much as those at York- 
town. 

This delay might not only be fatal to the health of your army, but in 
the mean time General Pope's forces would be exposed to the heavy 
blows of the enemy without the slightest hope of assistance from you. 

In regard to the demoralizing effect of a withdrawal from the Penin- 
sula to the Rappahannock, I must remark that a large number of your 
highest officers, indeed a majority of those whose opinions have been re- 
ported to me, are decidedly in favor of the movement. Even several of 
those who originally advocated the line of the Peninsula now advise its 
abandonment. 

I have not inquired, and do not wish to know, by whose advice or for 
what reasons the Army of the Potomac was separated into two parts, 
with the enemy between them. I must take things as I find them. 

I find the forces divided, and I wish to unite them. Only one feasible 
plan has been presented for doing this. If you, or any one else, had 
presented a better plan, I certainly should have adopted it. But all of 
your plans require re-enforcements which it is impossible to give you. 
It is very easy to asTc for re-enforcements, but it is not so easy to give 
them when you have no disposable troops at your command. 

I have written very plainly as I understand the case, and I hope you 
will give me credit for having fully considered the matter, although I may 
have arrived at very different conclusions from your own. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"W. H. Haixeck, General-in-Chief. 

Major-General G. B. MoCleixan, Commanding, etc., Berkeley, Virginia. 

The order for the removal of the sick was given to 
General McClellan on the 2d of August. On the 7th, he 
reported that three thousand seven hundred and forty 



302 The Life, Public Services, and 

had been sent, and five thousand seven hundred still 
remained. On the 9th, General Halleck telegraphed 
McClellan that the enemy was massing his forces in front 
of General Pope and Burnside to crush them and move 
upon Washington, and that re-enforcements must at once 
be sent to Aquia Creek ; to which he replied that he 
■would "move the whole army as soon as the sick were 
disposed of." On the 12th, in repry to the most pressing 
orders for immediate dispatch from General Halleck, who 
urged that Burnside had moved thirteen thousand troops 
in two days to Aquia Creek, General McClellan said if 
Washington was in danger, that army could scarcely 
arrive in time to save it. On the 14th, he announced 
that the movement had commenced ; on the 17th, he said 
he "should not feel entirely secure until he had the 
whole army beyond the Chickahominy, but that he 
would tlien begin to forward troops by water as fast as 
transportation would permit." On the 23d, General 
Franklin' s Corps started from Fortress Monroe ; General 
McClellan followed the next day, and reached Aquia 
Creek on the 24th, and Alexandria on the evening of the 
26th of August. 

On the 27th of June the President had issued an order 
consolidating into one army, to be called the Army of 
Virginia, the forces under Major-Generals Fremont, 
Banks, and McDowell. The command of this army was 
assigned to Major-General John Pope ; and the army was 
divided into three corps, of which the first was assigned 
to Fremont, the second to Banks, and the third to Mc- 
Dowell. Upon receiving this order, Major-General Fre- 
mont applied to be relieved from the command which it 
assigned him, on the ground that by the appointment of 
General Pope to the chief command, his (Fremont's) 
position was " subordinate and inferior to that heretofore 
held by him, and to remain in the subordinate rank now 
assigned him would largely reduce his rank and consid- 
eration in the service." In compliance with his request, 
General Fremont was at once relieved. 

On the 27th of August, General McClellan was ordered 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 303 

by General Halleck to "take entire direction of the send- 
ing out of the troops from Alexandria'''' to re-enforce 
Pope, whom the enemy were pressing with a powerful 
array, and whose head-quarters were then at Warrenton 
Junction. A portion of the Army of the'Potomac which 
arrived "before General McClellan, had at once gone for- 
ward to the aid of Pope ; of those which arrived after 
him, or which were at Alexandria when he arrived, not 
one reached the field, or took any part in the "battles by 
which the army was saved from destruction and the Capi- 
tal from capture. 

The extent to which General McClellan, who had the 
" entire direction of the sending of these re-enforcements," 
was responsible for this result, is a matter of so much 
importance, not only to himself and the Government, 
but to the whole country, as to demand a somewhat 
detailed examination. 

In his report of August 4th, 1S63, after giving a 
portion only of the correspondence between himself 
and the Government on this subject, General McClellan 
says : — 

It will be seen from what has preceded that I lost no time that could 
he avoided in moving the Army of the Potomac from the Peninsula to 
the support of the Army of Virginia; that I spared no effort to hasten 
the embarkation of the troops at Port Monroe, Newport Xews, and 
Yorktown, remaining at Fort Monroe myself until the mass of the army 
had sailed ; and that after my arrival at Alexandria, Ileft nothing in my 
poicer undone to forward sujyplies and re-enforcements to General Pope. 
I sent, with troops that moved, all the cavalry I could get hold of. Even 
my personal escort was sent out upon the line of the railway as a guard, 
with the provost and camp guards at head-quarters, retaining less than 
one hundred men, many of whom were orderlies, invalids, members of 
bands, &c. All the head-quarters teams that arrived were sent out with 
supplies and ammunition, none being retained even to move the head- 
quarters camp. The squadron that habitually served as my personal 
escort was left at Falmouth with General P>urnside, as he was deficient in 
cavalry. 

Before taking up more important matters, it may be 
well to remark, that as General McClellan was in 
the City of Alexandria, and not in any way ex- 



304 The Life, Public Services, and 

posed to personal danger, it is difficult to appreciate 
the merit lie seems to make of yielding up his per- 
sonal escort, provost and camp guards, and head-quar- 
ter "baggage-teams, when he had no use for them himself, 
and when they were needed for the purpose for which 
they are maintained — operating against the enemy, and 
that too in a pressing emergency. Even as it was, he 
seems to have retained nearly a hundred, many of whom 
he says were orderlies, &c, &c, around his person. 

Leaving this personal matter, we come to the important 
question — Is it true that General McClellan left, as he 
avers, nothing undone in his power to forward supplies and 
re-enforcements to General Pope' s army ? Did he, on this 
momentous occasion, honestly and faithfully do his whole 
duty in this respect, without any personal aims, or any 
jealousy, and with the single eye to the success of our 
arms, and the honor, welfare, and glory of the nation ? 

He had been repeatedly urged to hurry forward the 
troops from the Peninsula. On the 9th of August, he was 
informed by General Halleck that ' ' the enemy is massing 
his forces in front of Generals Pope and Bnrnside to try 
and crush them, and move forward to the Potomac ;" and 
was further told, "Considering the amount of transporta- 
tion at your disposal, your delay is not satisfactory. You 
must move with all celerity.'''' 

Again, on the 10th, General Halleck informed him that 
"the enemy is crossing the Rapidan in large force. They 
are fighting General Pope to-day. There must be no fur- 
ther delay in your movements : that which has already 
occurred was entirely unexpected, and must be satisfac- 
torily explained. Let not a moment's time be lost, and 
telegraph me daily what progress you have made in exe- 
cuting the order to transfer your troops." Again, on the 
21st, he was told, "the forces of Burnside and Pope are 
hard pushed, and require aid as rapidly as you can. By 
all means see that the troops sent have plenty of ammuni- 
tion. We have no time to supply them ; moreover, they 
may have to tight as soon as they land." 

Whether or not the delays of General McClellan were 



State Papees of Abraham Lincoln. 305 

excusable, those telegrams must have shown him, if proof 
were necessary, the emergency in which Pope was placed, 
and that the concentration of the two armies was not "be- 
ing effected in the time expected, and, as a consequence, 
that Pope was in a critical position, needing immediate 
help to save his army from defeat. It was under these 
circumstances that General McClellan left the Peninsula. 

When he readied Aquia on the 24th, under most posi- 
tive and pressing orders from Washington, General Pope, 
who had been holding the line of the Rappahannock for 
nearly a week against the assaults of Lee' s whole army, 
and keeping up communication with Fredericksburg, so 
as to receive the re-enforcements McClellan had been 
ordered to send up from the Peninsula — rinding these 
re-enforcements not coming by water to join his left as 
fast as Lee marched by land around his right, and that 
his right, though stretched to Waterloo Bridge, had been 
turned and his rear threatened, had been obliged to throw 
back his right, first to Warrenton, and then to Gaines- 
ville, and his left and centre from Rappahannock and 
Sulphur Springs to Warrenton Junction, Bristol, and 
Manassas. General McClellan knew on the 24th, when 
at Aquia, of the abandoning of Rappahannock Station, 
and of Pope's having broken his communication with 
Fredericksburg, and himself reported the facts to Geneial 
Halleck. 

August 26th, General Halleck ordered General Mc- 
Clellan from Aquia to Alexandria, and told him "Gen- 
eral Franklin's Corps," winch had arrived at Alexan- 
dria, "will march as soon as it receives transportation." 

General Pope had, when his line was stretched from 
below Rappahannock Station to beyond Warrenton, 
asked that Franklin' s Corps might be sent out to take 
post on his right at Gainesville, to which there was 
transportation by turnpike and railroad, to guard against 
what afterwards happened — the movement of the enemy 
through that place on his rear. The failure to have that 
corps at that place, or in the action at all, was one of the 
chief causes of Pope's failure. Why was this '( 

20 



306 The Life, Public Services, axd 

August 27th, as already stated, General MeClellan was 
directed "to take entire direction of the sending out of 
the troops from Alexandria." On the same day he was 
informed of the position of Pope's head-quarters ; of that 
of most of Pope's forces; of where Pope wished re- 
enforcements sent him — Gainesville; and that Fitz- John 
Porter, then under Pope, reported a "battle imminent. At 
10 A.M. on that day, he was told by Halleck, "that 
Franklin 1 s Corps should march in that direction (Manas- 
sas) as soon as possible ;" and again at 12 P. M., he was 
further told by Halleck that " Franklin" 1 s Corps should 
move otd by forced marches, carrying three or four days' 
provisions, and to be supplied as far as possible by 
railroad.' 1 '' 

It is well to bear in mind these explicit orders, and the 
circumstances under which, and the object for which 
they were given, for General MeClellan either seems to 
have forgotten them, or to have utterly failed to appre- 
ciate their importance. A battle reported by his favorite 
general, Fitz- John Porter, as imminent, within cannon 
sound of where he was, — the road to the battle-field, a 
wide, straight, Macadam turnpike, well-known to both 
General MeClellan and General Franklin, as each had 
been over it more than once, — the whole of the enemy 
and army which had been pressing Pope since the 9th, 
now concentrating to overwhelm him, — here, one would 
think, was every motive for him to do, as he claims to 
have done, every thing in his power to send re-enforce- 
ments forward, and to send them instantly. 

Why was it, then, that, at 7.15 p. m. on the 29th, more 
than two days after the order for it to go by forced 
marches to re-enforce an army engaged in battle, Frank- 
lin' s Cofps, was still at Anandale, about seven miles from 
Alexandria, and Franklin himself in Alexandria ? Gen- 
eral Halleck says it was all contrary to his orders, and 
MeClellan acknowledges himself "responsible for both 
these circumstances." 

In the mean time, Pope's forces fought the battles of the 
27th, 28th, and 29th, and were now to light that of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 307 

30th without Franklin's help. Why was this? Were 
the orders to send Franklin out countermanded ? General 
Halleck says they were not. As it is never just to judge 
a person by the light obtained after the fact, let us see, so 
far as the correspondence enables us, what were the dif- 
ferent phases of the case as they presented themselves at 
the time. 

The intimation to McClellan on the 26th, that Franklin 
was to go to the front, was followed by the positive or- 
ders of the 27th, given at 10 a. m. and 12 m. On that day 
General McClellan reports that Generals Franklin, Smith, 
and Slocum are all in Washington ; and that he had given 
orders to place the corps in readiness to march to the 
next in rank. At the same time, he reports heavy firing 
at Centreville. 

On the 28th, Halleck, learning that McClellan, who it 
seems had also gone to Washington, had not returned to 
Alexandria, sent orders to Franklin direct, to move with 
his corps that day (the 28th) towards Manassas Junction. 
On the 28th, at 3.30 p. m., Halleck informs McClellan that 
" not a moment must be lost in pushing as large a force 
as possible towards Manassas, so as to communicate with 
Pope before the enemy is re-enforced." On the same 
day, at 7.40 p.m., he again tells him : — 

There must be do further delay in moving Franklin's Corps towards 
Manassas. They must go to-morrow morning, ready or not ready. If we 
delay too long to get ready, there will be no necessity to go at all, for 
Pope will either be defeated or victorious without our aid. If there is a 
want of wagons, the men must carry provisions with them till the wagons 
f.orae to their relief. 

There is no possible room for misunderstanding the in- 
tention of the General-in-Chief .from these orders. He 
wished, and ordered, that communication should be at 
once re-established with Pope, and Pope re-enforced in 
time to be of service. 

Why did not McClellan re-establish the communication, 
and re-enforce Pope in time to be of service % Why did 
he halt Franklin' s Corps at Anandale ? 

He gives reasons for this in his telegram to Halleck of 



308 The Life, Public Services, and 

August 29th. "By referring to my telegrams," he says, 
" of 10.30 a. m., 12 m., and 1 p. m., together with your 
reply of 2.48 p. m., you will see why Franklin' s Corps halt- 
ed at Anandale." Let us examine these telegrams in 
connection with the circumstances then existing. The 
first is as follows : — 

Camp near Alexandria, August 29, 10.30 a. m. 

Franklin's Corps are in motion; started about six a. m. I can give him 
but two squadrons of cavalry. I propose moving General Cox to Upton's 
Hill to bold tbat important point witb its works, and to push cavalry 
scouts to Vienna via Freeman's Hill and Hunter's Lane. Cox has two 
squadrons of cavalry. Please answer at once wbetber this meets your 
approval. I bave directed Woodbury, with the Engineer Brigade, to 
bold Fort Lyon. Sumner detached last night two regiments to the vicinity 
of Forts Ethan Allen and Marcy. Meagher's Brigade is still at Aquia. 
If Sumner moves in support of Franklin, it leaves us without any reliable 
troops in and near Washington ; yet Franklin is too weak alone. What 
shall be done ? No more cavalry arrived. Have but three squadrons be- 
longing to the Army of the Potomac. Franklin has but forty rounds of 
ammunition, and no wagons to move more. I do not think Franklin is 
in a condition to accomplish much if he meets strong resistance. / should 
not have moved him out for your pressing orders of last night. What have 
you from Vienna and Drainsville ? 

Geo. B. McClellan, Major- General. 

Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 

To this Halleck replies : — 

"War Department, Washington, D. C, August 29, 1S62. 

Upton's Hill arrangement all right. We must send wagons and am- 
munition to Franklin as fast as they arrive. Meagher's Brigade ordered 
up yesterday. Fitzhugh Lee was, it is said on good authority, in Alex- 
andria on Sunday last for three hours. I hear nothing from Drainsville. 

II. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 

Major-General McClellan, Alexandria. 

To this McClellan sends the second of the dispatches he 
refers to, as follows. There are two telegrams of the same 
date : — 

Head-Quarters Army Potomac, August 29, 1S02, 12 m. 

Tour telegram received. Do you wish the movement of Franklin's 
Corps to continue? He is without reserve ammunition, and without 
transportation. Geo. B. McClellan, Major- General. 

Major-General H. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 309 



Head-Qtxarters Army Totomao, ) ' 

Alexandria, Virginia, August 29, 1SC2, 12 m. ) 

Have ordered most of the 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry to report to Gen- 
eral Bernard for scouting duty towards Rockville, Poolesville, &c. If 
you apprehend a raid of cavalry on your side of river, I had better send 
a brigade or two of Sumner's to near Tennallytown. Would it meet 
your views to post rest of Sumner's Corps between Arlington and Fort 
Corcoran, where they can either support Cox, Franklin, Chain Bridge, 
and even Tennallytown? 

Franklin has only ten thousand to eleven thousand ready for duty. 
How fa?' do you wish the force to advance? 

Geo. B. MoClellan, Major- General U. S. Army. 

Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief. 

Then follows the telegram of 1 p. m. : — 

Head-Quarters near Alexandria, I 
Augvst 29, 1 S62, 1 p. in. J 

I anxiously await reply to my last dispatch in regard to Sumner. "Wish 
to give order at once. Please authorize me to attach new regiments per- 
manently to my old brigades. I can do much good to old and new troops 
in that way. I shall endeavor to hold a line in advance of Forts Allen 
and Marsh, at least with strong advanced guards. I wish to hold the 
line through Prospect Hill, Marshall's, Miner's, and Hall's Hills. This 
will give us timely warning. Shall I do as seems lest to me with all the 
troops in this vicinity, including Franklin, who I really think ought not, 
under the present circumstances, to proceed oeyond Anandale ? 

Geo. B. McClellax, Major- General. 

General Halleok, General-in-Chief. 

It certainly is not easy to discover in these disjmtches 
any indications of a strong desire to re-enforce the Army 
of the Potomac, then fighting a battle in his front and 
within his hearing, but under another commander. They 
evince no special interest in the result of that battle, or 
the fate of that army — the army for which, while under 
his command, he had expressed so much affection, and 
whose defeat he afterwards declared, when he was again 
at its head, would be incomparably more disastrous to the 
nation than the capture of Washington itself. We find 
in these dispatches, which he cites in his own vindica- 
tion, no evidence to sustain the declaration of his report, 



310 The Life, Public Services, and 



, a. kjxj^xj ^"'^"J 



that from the moment of his arrival at Alexandria he 
"left nothing in his power undone to forward supplies 
and re-enforcements to General Pope." On the contrary, 
they seem to show that he had decided to do, what in a 
telegram of the same date he had suggested to the Presi- 
dent, " leave Pope to get out of his scrape," and devote 
himself exclusively to the safety of Washington.* He 
thinks any disposition of Franklin's and Sumner's troops 
wise, except sending them forward to re-enforce Pope. 
He is anxious to send them to Upton's Hill, to Chain 
Bridge, to Tennallytown, to Arlington, and Fort Corco- 
ran — anywhere and everywhere except where they were 
wanted most, and where alone they could assist in get- 
ting Pope "out of his scrape," and in saving the Army 
of the Potomac. It was natural and proper that he 
should give attention to the defence of Washington, for 
he had, as General Helleck says, "general authority over 
all the troops" that were defending it. But his special 
duty was "sending out troops from Alexandria to re-en- 
force Pope." Why did he give so much attention to the 
former, and so little to the latter duty % Why was it that, 
from the time of his landing at Alexandria, not another 
man of his army joined Pope, or made a diversion in his 
favor, till after Pope had fallen back from Manassas and 
fought four battles without the aid he had a right to ex- 
pect, and which General McClellan was repeatedly and 
peremptorily ordered to give % 

Those of McClellan' s forces which had reached Alex- 

* On the 29th lie had telegraphed to the President as follows : — 

I am clear that one of two courses should be adopted: First, to concentrate 
all our available forces to open communications with Pope; second, to leave 
Pope to get out of his scrape, and at once use all our means to make the Capi- 
tal perfectly safe. No middle ground will now answer.. Tell n^ what you wish 
me to do, and I will do all in my power to accomplish it. 

To this the President had thus replied : — 

"Washington, August 29, 1862-4. 10 r m. 

Tours of to-day just received. I think your first alternative, to wit. " to 
concentrate all our 'available forces to open communication with Pope," is tha 
right one, but I wish not to control. That T now leave to General Halleck, aided 
by your counsels. A- Lincoln. 

Major-General McClellan 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 311 

andria "before Mm, or were there "before Lis arrival, Stur- 
gis, Kearney, Hooker, and Heintzelman, had all gone 
forward and joined in these battles. Why could not 
Franklin — all of whose movements were controlled by 
McClellan— do as much with him as his brother com- 
manders had done without him ? 

The first thing that McClellan did, on reaching Alex- 
andria, in the discharge of his duties to send forward 
troops, was to stop those actually going ! In his dispatch 
of August 27th, nine o'clock p. m., he says to General 
Halleck — "I found part of Cox's command under orders 
to take the cars : will halt it with Franklin until morn- 
ing ! " And Cox never went out, though anxiously ex- 
pected and under orders to move. What are the reasons 
given by -McClellan for not sending, or not permitting 
Franklin to go ? On the 27th, at quarter past eleven p. m., 
immediately after the positive order was issued for Frank- 
lin to move by forced marches and carry three or four 
days' provisions, McClellan says : — 

Franklin's artillery has no horses except for four guns without cais- 
sons. I can pick up no cavalry. * * I do not see that we have force 
enough in hand to form a connection with Pope, whose exact position we 
do not know. 

A part of the perplexity he seems to have been in was 
removed that day at six o'clock p. m., when he received, 
as he says, a copy of a dispatch from Pope to Halleck, in 
which Pope says : "All forces now sent forward should 
be sent to my right at Gainesville." 

The next day, at one o'clock p. m., he telegraphs : — 

"I have been doing all possible to hurry artillery and cavalry. The 
moment Franklin can be started with a reasonable amount of artillery he 
shall go." 

Again, at forty minutes past four of the 2Sth, he tele- 
graphs : — 

General Franklin is with me here. I will know in a few moments the 
condition of artillery and cavalry. We are not yet in a condition to 
move; may be by to-morrow morning. 



3.12 The Life, Public Services, and 

A few moments later, lie says : — 

Tour dispatch received. jSTeitber Franklin's nor Sumner's Corp9 13 
now in a condition to move and fight a battle. It would be a sacrifice to 
send them out now ! I have sent aids to ascertain tbe condition of Col- 
onel Tyler ; but I still tbink that a premature movement in small force 
will accomplish notbing but tbe destruction of tbe troops sent out. 

The small force (?) to which he refers consisted, as here- 
tofore stated, of Sumner's Corps of fourteen thousand 
and Franklin' s of eleven thousand, a total of twenty-five 
thousand — not going to fight a battle by itself, but to re- 
enforce an army already engaged, and constituting cer- 
tainly a handsome re-enforcement on any field. On the 
29th," he says :— 

Franklin has but forty rounds of ammunition, and no wagons to move 
more. I do not tbink Franklin is in a condition to accomplish much if 
he meets strong resistance. I sbould not have moved bim but for your 
pressing orders of last night. 

On this same day : — 

Do you wish tbe movement of Franklin's Corps to continue? lie i3 
without reserve ammunition and witbout transportation. 

It may be remarked here, that Franklin had not yet 
gone beyond Anandale — about seven miles — and had, as 
yet, neither come upon the enemy, nor joined the army in 
front, nor gained any information about either. If, there- 
fore, his movement was not to continue, it must be be- 
cause it was too hazardous, or because he had no reserve 
ammunition or transportation. 

So, it seems, it was General McClellan's judgment that 
Franklin could not be sent, as soon as he landed, to re- 
enforce Pope — because, first, he had his artillery only 
partially mounted ; second, he had no cavalry ; third, he 
had but forty rounds of ammunition, and no transporta- 
tion for more. The subsequent difficulties were, that he 
had no transportation for his reserve ammunition, and 
was too weak alone, and Sumner ought not to be sent to 
support him, as it would leave the Capital unprotected ! 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 313 

It is fortunate some of McClellan' s Corps preceded Mm 
from the Peninsula, and arrived and marched before he 
came up. For, if not, two of the corps who joined Pope 
and fought under him would have been halted for the 
reasons that stayed Franklin. Kearney joined without 
artillery, and Pope ordered two batteries to be given 
him ; Porter had but forty rounds of ammunition — Heint- 
zelman joined without cavalry. 

Why, may it be asked, were "neither Sumner's nor 
Franklin's Corps in a condition to move and fight a bat- 
tle ? " McClellan had been told that in embarking his 
troops he must see they were supplied with ammunition, 
"as they might have to fight as soon as they landed." 
The men were not fatigued by hard marches, nor ex- 
hausted with fighting and lack of food, as were their 
companions in front. What was there to prevent their 
going to re-enforce them, but the orders and pretexts for 
delay of General McClellan ? 

It will have been noticed that lack of transportation 
was at the bottom of the alleged difficulties. Transpor- 
tation was not required for supplies, for the men were 
ordered to carry their food with them. Is it not strange 
that, in view of the emergency of the case, some extraor- 
dinary means were not resorted to, to impress horses and 
wagons — if none existed in the hands of the Government 
— in the cities of Alexandria, Georgetown, and Washing- 
ton, where there was an abundance of both ? Such things 
have been done even in this war, on much less important 
occasions than this one. 

But will not this plea seem stranger still when it is 
found that there was no need of pressing any private 
property into service — that there was plenty of public 
transportation on hand? Let the following dispatch 
show : — 

War Department, Washington, D. C, August 80, 1SG2. 

I am by no means satisfied with General Franklin's march of yester- 
day, considering the circumstances of the case. He was very wrong in 
stopping at Alexandria. Moreover, I learned last night that the Quarter- 
master's Department would have given him plenty of transportation if 



314 The Life, Public Services, and 

he had applied for it any time since his arrival at Alexandria. He knew 
the importance of opening communication with General Pope's army, 
and should have acted more promptly. 

II. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief. 
Major-General McClellax, Alexandria. 

But most strange of all is, that General McClellan knew 
of there being public transportation at hand, and yet did 
not use it, even when the fate of a campaign depended 
upon it, and afterwards assigned the want of it as the 
reason for not obeying his orders to send re-enforcements. 
He says, in hig dispatch of August 30, to General Pope : — 

The quartermasters here (Alexandria) said there was none disposable. 
The difficulty seems to consist in the fact (he adds), that the greater part 
of the transportation on hand at Alexandria and Washington has been 
needed for current supplies of the garrisons. 

The inference is irresistible that General McClellan, 
who had charge of every thing in and around Alexan- 
dria and Washington, thought it was better that the 
Army of the Potomac, under Pope, should not be re- 
enforced, and be defeated, than that the garrisons should 
be subjected to the slightest inconvenience ! 

The answer of General Halleck to the telegrams of Gen- 
eral McClellan, in which the latter made so many propo- 
sitions about the movements of Sumner's Corps and the 
disposition of Cox's force and the other troops for the 
defence of Washington, is as follows : — 

War Department, Washington, D. C, Arigust 20, 1SC2. 

Your proposed disposition of Sumner's Corps seems to me judicious. 
Of course I have no time to examine into details. The present danger 
is a raid upon Washington in the night-time. Dispose of all troops as 
you deem best. I want Franklin's Corps to go far enough to find out 
something about the enemy. Perhaps he may get such information at 
Anandale as to prevent his going further. Otherwise, he will push on 
towards Fairfax. Try to get something from direction of Manassas eithei 
by telegrams or through Franklin's scouts. Our people must move ac- 
tively and find out where the enemy is. I am tired of guesses. 

II. W. Halleck, General-in-Chief 

Major-General McClellan, Alexandria. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 315 

It is in this dispatch that General McClellan finds his 
authority to halt Franklin at Anandale. Franklin had 
"been repeatedly ordered to join Pope, "but had "been de- 
layed by McClellan, who evidently did not intend he 
should get beyond his control if possible. 

In his telegram to Halleck of one o'clock p. m. of the 
29th, he asks if he may do as seems to him best with 
all the troops in the vicinity of Alexandria, including 
Franklin — Franklin being still in the vicinity of Alexan- 
dria, Halleck, in giving him authority to dispose of all 
troops in his vicinity evidently refers to the disposition 
to be made of those for the forts and defences, for he pro- 
ceeds to say, I want " Franklin's Corps to go far enough 
to find out something about the enemy." Franklin's 
Corps did not go out far enough to learn any thing about 
the enemy. What lie learned he picked up at Anandale 
from citizens, and probably from Banks's wagon-train, 
which passed him as it came from the front, which it 
seems it was able to do with safety at the time McClellan 
considered it too hazardous for forty thousand men to 
move to the front to join the army. 

It is unnecessary to pursue this matter any further, and 
show, as might easily be done, how similar delays were 
procured with respect to other troops which might have 
been sent to re-enforce Pope. It is sufficient to say that 
forty thousand men, exclusive of Burnside' s force, were 
thus — as it seems to us intentionally — withheld from Pope 
at the time he was engaged in holding the army of Lee in 
check. 

Having thus disposed of the question of re-enforcements, 
it now remains to say a word about supplies, which Gen- 
eral McClellan says he left nothing undone to forward to 
Pope. 

When at Fort Monroe he telegraphed (August 21st, 10. 
52 p. m.) :— 

I have ample supplies of ammunition for infantry and artillery, and 
will have it up in time. I can supply any deficiency that may exist in 
General Pope's army. 



316 The Life, Public Services, and 

August the 30th (1.45 p. m.), General Halleck tele- 
graphed him : — 

Ammunition.! and particularly for artillery, must be immediately sent 
forward to Centreville for General Pope. 

To which he replied : — 

1 know nothing of the calibres of Pope's artillery. All I can do is to 
direct my ordnance officer to load up all the wagons sent to him. 

General McClellan. might have very easily found out 
those calibres. His ordnance officer knew those of the 
corps of his own army, and he was in telegraphic commu- 
nication with the ordnance officer in Washington, where a 
register is kept of all the batteries in service. 

What was his course with respect to supplies of forage 
and subsistence, of which Pope's army was in such ex- 
treme need ? 

He directed Franklin to say to Pope he would send 
him out supplies if he, Pope, would send cavalry to es- 
cort them out! "Such a request" (says Pope, in his 
dispatch of 5 a. m., August 30), "when Alexandria is full 
of troops, and I fighting the enemy, needs no comment." 



The Army of the Potomac, under General Pope, was 
defeated and driven back upon Washington. But it had 
contested every inch of the ground, and had fought every 
battle with a gallantry and tenacious courage that would 
have insured a decisive victory if it had been properly 
and promptly supported. It was not broken, either in 
spirit or in organization ; and it fell "back upon the Capital 
prepared to renew the struggle for its salvation. 

By this time, however, General McClellan had become 
the recognized head of a political party in the country, 
and a military clique in the army ; and it suited the pur- 
poses of both to represent the defeat of the Army of the 
Potomac as due to the fact that General McClellan was 
no longer at its head. The progress of the rebel army, 
moreover, up the Potomac, with the evident intention of 
moving upon Baltimore or into Pennsylvania, had created 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 317 

a state of feeling throughout the country and in Washing- 
ton eminently favorable to the designs of General Mc- 
Clellan's partisans; and upon the urgent but unjust rep- 
resentation of some of his officers that the army would 
not serve under any other commander, General Pope was 
relieved, and General McClellan again placed at the head 
of the Army of the Potomac, and on the 4th of September 
he commenced the movement into Maryland to repel the 
invading rebel forces. 

On the 11 th, he made urgent application for re-enforce- 
ments, asking that Colonel Milet be withdrawn from Har- 
per' s Ferry, and that one or two of the three army corps 
on the Potomac, opposite Washington, be at once sent to 
join him. "Even if Washington should be taken," he 
said, ' ' while these armies are confronting each other, this 
would not in my judgment bear comparison with the ruin 
and disaster that would follow a single defeat of this 
army," although, as will be remembered, when that army 
was under Pope, and engaged in a battle which might 
destroy it, he had said (Aug. 27), "I think we should first 
provide for the defence of the Capital." General Halleck 
replied that "the capture of Washington would throw 
them back six months, if not destroy them," and that Miles 
could not join him until communications were opened. 
On the 14th, the battle of South Mountain took place, the 
rebels falling back to the Potomac ; and on the 17th the 
battle of Antietam was fought, resulting in the defeat of 
the rebel forces, although no pursuit was made, and they 
were allowed, during the night and the whole of the next 
day, quietly to withdraw their shattered forces to the 
other side of the Potomac. The losses he had sustained 
and the disorganization of some of his commands were 
assigned by General McClellan as his reason for not renew 
ing the attack, although the corps of General Fitz-John 
Porter had not been brought into action at all. Orders 
were issued, however, for a renewal of the battle on the 
19th, but it was then suddenly discovered that the enemy 
was on the other side of the Potomac. General McClellan 
did not feel authorized on account of the condition of his 



318 The Life, Public Services, and 

army to cross in pursuit, and on the 23d wrote to "Wash- 
ington, asking for re-enforcements, renewing the applica- 
tion on the 27th, and stating his purpose to be to hold the 
army where it was, and to attack the enemy should he 
attempt to recross into Maryland. He thought that only 
the troops necessary to garrison Washington should "be 
retained there, and that every thing else available should 
be sent to him. If re-enforced anci allowed to take his 
own course, he said, he would be responsible for the 
safety of the Capital. 

On the 1st of Octobp", President Lincoln visited the 
army and made careful inquiry into its strength and con- 
dition. On the Cth, he issued the following order for an 
immediate advance : — 

"Washington, D. C, October G, 1S62. 

I am instructed to telegraph to you as follows: The President directs 
that you cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy, or drive him 
south. Your array must move now, while the roads are good. If you 
cross the river between the enemy and Washington, and cover the latter 
by your operation, you can be re-enforced with thirty thousand men. If 
you move up the valley of the Shenandoah not more than twelve or fif- 
teen thousand can be sent you. The President advises the interior lino 
between Washington and the enemy, but does not order it. lie is very 
desirous that your army move as soon as possible. You will immediately 
report what line you adopt, and when you intend to cross the river : also 
to what point the re-enforcements are to be sent. It is necessary that 
the plan of your operations be positively determined on, before orders 
are given for building bridges and repairing railroads. I am directed to 
add, that the Secretary of War and the General-in-Chief fully concur with 
the President in these instructions. 

II. W. IIalleck, General-in-Chief. 

Major-General iloCxELLAN". 

On receiving this order, General McClellan inquired as 
to the character of troops that would be sent him, and as 
to the number of tents at command of the army. He also 
called for very large quantities of shoes, clothing, and 
supplies, and said that without these the army could not 
move. On the 11th, the rebel General Stuart, with a 
force of about twenty five hundred men, made a raid into 
Pennsylvania, going completely round our army, and 



State Papers of Abraham Lixcoln. 319 

thwarting all the arrangements "by which General Mc- 
Clellan had reported that his capture was certain. On the 
13th, in consequence of his protracted delays, the Presi- 
dent addressed to General McClellan the following letter : 

Executive Mansion, Washington, October 13, 1S62. 

3dv Dear Sir: — You remember my speaking to you of what I called 
your over-cautiousness. Are you not over-cautious when you assume that 
you cannot do what the enemy is constantly doing - ? Should you not 
claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim? 

As I understand, you telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot sub- 
sist your army at Winchester unless the railroad from Harper's Ferry to 
that point be put in working order. But the enemy decs now subsist his 
army at Winchester, at a distance nearly twice as great from railroad 
transportation as you would have to do without the railroad last named. 
He now wagons from Culpepper Court-House, which is just about twice 
as far as you would have to do from Harper's Ferry. He is certainly not 
more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. I certainly 
should be pk-ased for you to have the advantage of the railroad from 
Harper's Ferry to Winchester; but it wastes all the remainder of autumn 
to give it to you, and. in fact, ignores the question of time, which cannot 
and must not be ignored. 

Again, one of the standard maxims of war, as you know, is, "to operate 
upon the enemy's communications as much as possible, without exposing 
your own." You seem to act as if this applies against you, but cannot 
apply in your favor. Change positions with the enemy, and think you 
not he would break your communication with Richmond within the next 
twenty-four hours? Yon dread his going into Pennsylvania. But if ho 
does so in full force, he gives up his communications to you absolutely, 
and you have nothing to do but to follow and ruin him; if he does so 
with less than full forre, fall upon and beat what is left behind all the 
easier. 

Exclusive of the water line, you are now nearer Richmond than the 
enemy is, by the route that you can and he must take. Why can you not 
reach there before him, unless you admit that he is more than your equal 
on a march ? His route is the arc of a circle, while yours is the chord. 
The roads are as good on yours as on his. 

You know I desired, but did not order, you to cross the Potomac below 
instead of above the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My idea was, that 
this would at once menace the enemy's communications, which I would 
seize if he would permit. If he should move northward, I would follow 
him closely, holding his communications. If he should prevent our 
seizing his communications, and move toward Richmond, I would press 
closely to him, light him if a favorable opportunity should present, and at 
least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside track. I say "try" if 



320 The Life, Public Services, and 

we never try, we shall never succeed. If he make a stand at Winchester, 
moving neither north nor south, I would fight him there, on the idea that 
if we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of coming to us, we 
never can when we bear the wastage of going to him. This proposition 
is a simple truth, and is too important to be lost sight of for a moment. 
In coming to us, he tenders us au advantage which we should not waive. 
We should not so operate as to merely drive him away. As we must beat 
him somewhere, or fail finally, we can do it, if at all, easier near to us 
than far away. If we cannot beat the enemy where he now is, we nevei 
can, he again being within the intrenc'iiments of Richmond. Eecurring 
to the idea of going to Richmond on the inside track, the facility of sup- 
plying from the side away from the enemy is remarkable, as it were, by 
the different spokes of a wheel, extending from the hub towards the rim, 
and this whether you move directly by the chord, or on the inside arc, 
hugging the Blue Ridge more closely. The chord-line, as you see, carries 
you by Aldie, Ilaymarket, and Fredericksburg, and you see how turn- 
pikes, railroads, and finally the Potomac by Aquia Creek, meet you at 
all points from Washington. The same, only the lines lengthened a little, 
if you press closer to the Blue Ridge part of the way. The gaps through 
the Blue Ridge I understand to be about the following distances from 
Harper's Ferry, to wit : Vestal's, five miles; Gregory's, thirteen; Snick- 
er's, eighteen; Ashby's, twenty-eight; Manassas, thirty-eight; Chester, 
forty -five ; and Thornton's, fifty-three. I should think it preferable to 
take the route nearest the enemy, disabling him to make an important 
move without your knowledge, and compelling him to keep Ins forces 
together for dread of you. The gaps would enable you to attack if you 
should wish. For a great part of the way you would be practically 
between the enemy and both Washington and Richmond, enabling us to 
spare you the greatest number of troops from here. When, at length, 
running to Richmond ahead of him enables him to move this way, if he 
does so, turn and attack him in the rear. But I think he should he 
engaged long before such point is reached. It is all easy if our troops 
march as well as the enemy, and it is unmanly to say they cannot do it. 
This letter is in no sense an order. 

Tours, truly, A. Lincoln". 

Major-General McClellax. 

For over a fortnight longer General McClellan delayed 
any attempt to move his army in ohedience to the Presi- 
dent' s order. He spent this interval in complaints of inad- 
equate supplies, and in incessant demands for re-enforce- 
ments ; and on the 21st inquired whether it was still the 
President' s wish that he should march upon the enemy at 
once, or await the arrival of fresh horses. He was told in 
reply that the order of the 6th was unchanged, and that 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 321 

while tlie President did not expect impossibilities, lie was 
" very anxious that all this good weather should not "be 
wasted in inactivity." General McClellan states in his 
report that he inferred, from the tenor of this dispatch, 
that it was left to his own judgment whether it would "be 
safe for the army to advance or not ; and he accordingly 
fixed upon the first of November as the earliest date at 
which the forward movement could be commenced. On 
the 25th he complained to the Department of the con- 
dition of his cavalry, saying that the horses were fatigued 
and greatly troubled with sore tongue ; whereupon the 
President addressed him the following inquiry : — 

"War Department, Washington, October 25, 1SG2. 
I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongue and fatigued horses. 
• Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done 
since the battle of Antietam that fatigues any thing ? 

A. Lincoln. 

The General replied that they had been engaged in 
making reconnoissances, scouting, and picketing ; to which 
the President thus rejoined : — 

Executive Mansion^ Washington, October 26, 1S62. 

Yours in reply to mine about horses received. Of course you know the 
facts butter than I. Still,. two considerations remain: Stuart's cavalry 
outmarched ours, having certainly done more marked service on the Pen- 
insula and everywhere since. Secondly : will not a movement of our 
army be a relief to the cavalry, compelling the enemy to concentrate in- 
stead of " foraging " in squads everywhere ? But I am so rejoiced to learn 
from your dispatch to General Ilalleck that you began crossing the river 
this morning. • A. Lincoln. 

The General replied in a long dispatch, rehearsing in 
detail the labors performed by his cavalry, to which he 
thought the President had done injustice. This note eli- 
cited the following reply : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, October 2G, 1S62. 

Tours of yesterday received. Most certainly I intend no injustice to 
any, and if I have done any I deeply regret it. To be told, after more 
than five weeks' total inaction of the army, and during which period we 
had sent to that army every fresh horse we possibly could, amounting in 

tie whole to seven thousand nine hundred and eighteen, that the cavalry 
21 



322 The Life, Public Services, and 

horses were too much fatigued to move, presented a very cheerless, almost 
hopeless, prospect for the future, and it may have forced something of 
impatience into my dispatches. If not recruited and rested then, when 
could they ever be ? I suppose the river is rising, and I am glad to believe 
you are crossing. A. Lincoln. 

The General next started, as a new topic of discussion, 
the extent to which the Line of the Potomac should be 
guarded after he left it, so as to cover Maryland and Penn- 
sylvania from further invasions. He thought strong gar- 
risons should be left at certain points, complained that his 
forces were inadequate, and made some suggestion con- 
cerning the position of the rebel army under Bragg, which 
led General Halleck in reply to remind him that Bragg 
was four hundred miles away, while Lee was but twenty. 
On the 27th the General telegraphed to the President that 
it was necessary to "fill up the old regiments of his com- 
mand before taking them again into action," to which the 
President thus replied : — 

Executive Mansion, \Vasiiington, October 27, iSG2. 

Your dispatch of three p. m. to-day, in regard to rilling up old regiments 
with drafted men, is received, and the request therein shall be complied 
with as far as practicable. And now I ask a distinct answer to the ques- 
tion, "Is it your purpose not to go into action again till the men now being 
drafted in the States are incorporated in the old regiments?'" 

A. Lincoln. 

The General, in reply, explained that the language of 
the dispatch, which was prepared by one of his aids, had 
incorrectly expressed his meaning, and that he should not 
postpone the advance until the regiments were filled by 
drafted men. The army was gradually crossed over, and 
on the 5th of November the General announced to the 
President that it was all on the Virginia side. This was 
just a month after the order to cross had been given — the 
enemy meantime having taken possession of all the strong 
points, and falling back, at his leisure, towards his base 
of operations. These unaccountable delays in the move- 
ment of the army created the most intense dissatisfaction 
in the public mind, and completely exhausted the patience 
of the Government. Accordingly, on the 5th of JSTovem- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 323 

ber, an order was issued relieving General McClellan from 
the command of the Army q# the Potomac, and directing 
General Burnside to take his place. 



Thus closed a most remarkable chapter in the history of 
the war. For over fifteen months General McClellan had 
commanded the Army of the Potomac, the largest and most 
powerful army ever marshalled till then upon this con- 
tinent — consisting of one hundred and sixty thousand 
men, and furnished, in lavish profusion*, with every thing 
requisite for effective service. Throughout the whole of 
this long period that army had been restrained "by its com- 
mander from attacking the enemy. Except in the single 
instance of Antietam, where, moreover, there was no pos- 
sibility of avoiding an engagement, every battle which it 
fought was on the defensive. According to the sworn 
testimony of his own commanders, General McClellan 
might have overwhelmed the rebel forces arrayed against 
him at Manassas, at Yorktown, after Williamsburg, Fair 
Oaks, Malvern Hill, and Antietam ; but on every one of 
these occasions he carefully forbore to avail himself of the 
superiority of his position, and gave the enemy ample 
time to prepare for more complete and effective resistance. 
It is no part of our present purpose to inquire into the 
causes of this most extraordinary conduct on the part of 
a commander to whom, more completely than to any other, 
were intrusted the destinies of the Nation during one 
of the most critical periods. Whether he acted from 
an innate disability, or upon a political theory — whether 
he intentionally avoided a decisive engagement in order 
to accomplish certain political results which he and his 
secret advisers deemed desirable, or whether he was, by 
the native constitution of his mind, unable to meet the 
gigantic responsibilities of his position when the critical 
moment of trial arrived, are points which the public and 
posterity will decide from an unbiased study of the evi- 
dence which his acts and his words afford. As the record 
we have given shows, President Lincoln lost no oppor- 
tunity of urging upon him more prompt and decisive 



324 The Life, Public Services, and 

action, while in no instance did he withhold from him any 
aid which it was in the power of the Government to give. 
Nothing can show more clearly the disposition of the 
President to sustain him to the utmost, and to protect him 
from the rapidly "ising tide of public censure and discon- 
tent with his ruinous and inexplicable delays, than the 
following remarks made by him at a war meeting held at 
Washington on the 6th of August, after the retreat to the 
James River, and just before the withdrawal of the army 
from the Peninsula : — 

Fellow-Citizens : — I believe there is no precedent for my appearing 
before you on this occasion, but it is also true that there is no precedent 
for your being here yourselves, and I offer, in justification of myself And 
of you, that, upon examination, I have found nothing in the Constitution 
against it. I, however, have an impression that there are younger gentle- 
men who will entertain you better, and better address your understanding 
than I will or could, and therefore I propose but to detain you a moment 
longer. 

I am very little inclined on any occasion to say anything unless I hope 
to produce some good by it. The only thing I think of just now not 
likely to be better said by some one else, is a matter in which we have 
heard some other persons blamed for what I did myself. There has been 
a very wide-spread attempt to have a quarrel between General McClellan 
and the Secretary of AVar. Now, I occupy a position that enables me to 
observe, that these two gentlemen are not nearly so deep in the quarrel as 
some pretending to be their friends. General McClellan's attitude is such 
that, in the very selfishness of his nature, he cannot but wish to be suc- 
cessful, and I hope he will — and the Secretary of War is in precisely the 
same situation. If the military commanders in the field cannot be success- 
ful, not only the Secretary of War, but myself, for the time being the 
master of them both, cannot but be failures. I know General McClellau 
wishes to be successful, and I know he does not wish it any more than the 
Secretary of War for him, and both of them together no moic than I Avish 
it. Sometimes we have a dispute about how many men General McClel- 
lan has had, and those who would disparage him say that he has had a 
very large number, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War 
insist that General McClellan has had a very small number. The basis 
for this is, there is always a wide difference, and on this occasion, perhaps 
a wider one than usual, between the grand total on McClellan's rolls and 
the men actually fit for duty ; and those who would disparage him talk of the 
grand total on paper, and those who would disparage the Secretary of War 
talk of those at present fit for duty. General McClellan has sometimes 
asked for things that the Secretary of War did not give him. General 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 325 

McClellan is not to blame for asking what he wanted and needed, and the 
Secretary of "War is not to blame for not giving when he had none to give. 
And I say here, as far as I know, the Secretary of War has withheld no 
one thing at any time in my power to give him. I have no accusation 
against him. I believe he is a brave and able man, and I stand here, as 
justice requires me to do, to take upon myself what has been charged on 
the Secretary of "War, as withholding from him. 

I have talked longer than I expected to do, and now I avail myself of 
my privilege of saying no more. 



32G The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER X. 

GENERAL CONDUCT OP THE ADMINISTRATION IN 1862. 

Successes in the Southwest. — Recognized Objects of tiie War. — 
Relations of the War to Slavery. — Our Foreign Relations. — 
Proposed Mediation of the French Emperor. — Reply to the 
French Proposal. — Secretary Seward's Dispatch. — The Presi- 
dent's Letter to Fernando Wood. — Observance op the Sabbath, 

In every other section of the country, except in East- 
ern Virginia, the military operations of the year 1862 
were marked by promptitude and vigor, and attended by 
success to the National arms. Early in February, a lodg- 
ment had been effected by the expedition under General 
Burnside on the coast of North Carolina ; and, on the 
19th of January, the victory of Mill Springs had released 
Western Kentucky from rebel rule, and opened a path 
for the armies of the Union into East Tennessee. The 
President's order of January 27th, for an advance of all 
the forces of the Government on the 22d of February, had 
been promptly followed by the capture of Forts Henry 
and Donelson on the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, 
which led to the evacuation of Bowling Green, the surren- 
der of Nashville, and the fall of Columbus, the rebel strong- 
hold on the Mississippi. Fort Pulaski, which guarded the 
entrance to Savannah, was taken, after eighteen hours' 
bombardment, on the 12th of April, and the whole west 
coast of Florida had been occupied by our forces. By 
the skilful strategy of General Halleck, commanding -the 
Western Department, seconded by the vigorous activity 
of General Curtis, the rebel commander in Missouri, Gen- 
eral Price, had been forced to retreat, leaving the whole 
of that State in our hands ; and he was badly beaten in a 
subsequent engagement at Sugar Creek in Arkansas. On 
the 14th, Island No. 10, commanding the passage of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 327 

Mississippi, was taken by General Pope ; and, on the 
4th of June, Forts Pillow and Randolph, still lower 
down, were occupied "by our forces. On the 6th, the 
city of Memphis was surrendered fay the rebels. Soon 
after the fall of Nashville, a formidable expedition had 
ascended the Tennessee River, and, being joined by all 
the available Union forces in that vicinity, the whole, 
under command of General Halleck, prepared to give 
battle to the rebel army, which, swelled by large re- 
enforcements from every quarter, was posted in the vicin- 
ity of Corinth, ninety miles east of Memphis, intending 
by a sudden attack to break the force of the Union army, 
which was sweeping steadily down upon them from the 
field of its recent conquests. The rebels opened the 
attack with great fury and effect, on the morning of the 
6th of April, at Pittsburg Landing, three miles in ad- 
vance of Corinth. The fight lasted nearly all day, the 
rebels having decidedly the advantage ; but in their final 
onset they were driven back, and the next day our army, 
strengthened by the opportune arrival of General Buell, 
completed what proved to be a signal and most im- 
portant victory. When news of it reached Washing- 
ton, President Lincoln issued the following proclama- 
tion : — 

It has pleased Almighty God to vouchsafe signal victories to the land 
and naval forces engaged in suppressing an internal rebellion, and at the 
same time to avert from our country the dangers of foreign intervention 
and invasion. 

It is therefore recommended to the people of the United States, that at 
their next weekly assemblages in their accustomed places of public wor- 
ship which shall occur after the notice of this Proclamation shall have 
been received, they especially acknowledge and render thanks to our 
Heavenly Father for these inestimable blessings ; that they then and there 
implore spiritual consolation in behalf of all those who have been brought 
into affliction by the casualties and calamities of sedition and civil war; 
and that they reverently invoke the Divine guidance for our national 
counsels, to the end that they may speedily result in the restoration of 
peace, harmony, and unity throughout our borders, and hasten the estab- 
lishment of fraternal relations among all the countries of the earth. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 



328 The Life, Public Services, and 

Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of April, in the 
[l. s.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, 
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-sixth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President: 

¥m. II. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 

On the 28th of May the rebels evacuated Corinth, and 
were pushed southward by our pursuing forces for some 
twenty-live or thirty miles. General Mitchell, by a 
daring and most gallant enterprise in the latter part of 
April, took possession of Huntsville in Alabama. In 
February a formidable naval expedition had been fitted 
out under Commodore Farragut for the capture of New 
Orleans ; and on the 18th of April the attack commenced 
upon Forts Jackson and St. Philip, by which the passage 
of the Mississippi below the city is guarded. After six 
days' bombardment, the whole fleet passed the forts on 
the night of the 23d, under a terrible fire from both ; and 
on the 25th the rebel General Lovell, who had command 
of the military defences of the city, withdrew, and Com- 
modore Farragut took possession of the town, which he 
retained until the arrival of General Butler on the 1st of 
Majr, who thereupon entered upon the discharge of his 
duties as commander of that Department. 
. During the summer, a powerful rebel army, undei 
General Bragg, invaded Kentucky for the double pur- 
pose of obtaining supplies and affording a rallying point 
for what they believed to be the secession sentiment of 
the State. In the accomplishment of the former object 
they were successful, but not in the latter. They lost 
more while in the State from desertions than they gained 
by recruits ; and after a battle at Perryville, on the 7th 
of October, they began their retreat. On the 5th of Oc- 
tober a severe battle was fought at Corinth, from which a 
powerful rebel army attempted to drive our troops under 
General Rosecrans, but they were repulsed with very 
heavy losses, and the campaign in Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee was virtually at an end. A final effort of the 
enemy in that region led to a severe engagement at Mur- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 320 

freesboro' on the 31st of December, winch resulted in 
the defeat of the rebel forces, and in relieving Tennessee 
from the presence of the rebel armies. 

In all the military operations of this year, especial care 
had been taken by the generals in command of the several 
departments, acting under the general direction of the 
Government, to cause it to be distinctly understood that 
the object of the war was the preservation of the Union 
and the restoration of the authority of the Constitution. 
The rebel authorities, both civil and military, lost no 
opportunity of exciting the fears and resentments of the 
people of the Southern States, by ascribing to the Nation- 
al Government designs of the most ruthless and implaca- 
ble hostility to their institutions and their persons. It 
was strenuously represented that the object of the war 
was to rob the Southern people of their rights and their 
property, and especially to set free their slaves. The 
Government did every thing in its power to allay the 
apprehensions and hostilities which these statements were 
calculated to produce. General Garfield, while in Ken- 
tucky, just before the victory of Mill Springs, issued on 
the 16th of January an address to the citizens of that 
section of the State, exhorting them to return to their 
allegiance to the Federal Government, which had never 
made itself injuriously felt by any one among them, and 
promising them full protection for their persons and their 
property, and full reparation for any wrongs they might 
have sustained. After the battle of Mill Springs, the 
Secretary of War, under the direction of the President, 
issued an order of thanks to the soldiers engaged in it, in 
which he again announced that the "purpose of the war 
was to attack, pursue, and destroy a rebellious enemy, 
and to deliver the country from danger menaced by 
traitors." On the 20th of November, 1861, General 
Halleck, commanding the Department of the Missouri, on 
the eve of the advance into Tennessee, issued an order 
enjoining upon the troops the necessity of discipline and 
of order, and calling on them to prove by their acts that 
they came "to restore, not to violate the Constitution and 



A 



330 The Life, Public Services, and 

the laws," and that the people of the South under the' 
flag of the Union should "enjoy the same protection of, 
life and property as in former days." "It does not 
belong to the military," said this order, "to decide upon 
the relation of master and slave. Such questions must be 
settled by the civil courts. No fugitive slave will, there- 
fore, be admitted within our lines or camps except when 
specially ordered by the General commanding." * So 
also General Burnside, when about to land on the soil of 
North Carolina, issued an order, February 3d, 1862, call- 
ing upon the soldiers of his army to remember that they 
were there "to support the Constitution and the laws, to 
put down rebellion, and to protect the persons and prop- 
erty of the loyal and peaceable citizens of the State." 
And on the 18th of the same month, after Fort Henry and 
Koanoke Island had fallen into our hands, Commodore 
Goldsborough and General Burnside issued a joint proc- 
lamation, denouncing as false and slanderous the attempt 
of the rebel leaders to impose on the credulity of the 
Southern people by telling them of "our desire to de- 
stroy their freedom, demolish their property, and liberate 
their slaves," and declaring that the Government asked 
only that its authority might be recognized, and that "in 
no way or manner did it desire to interfere with their 
laws, constitutionally established, their institutions of any 
kind whatever, their property of any sort, or their usages 
in any respect." And, on the 1st of March, General 
Curtis, in Arkansas, had addressed a proclamation to the 

* In regard to tins order, which was afterwards severely criticised in Congress, 
General Ilalleck wrote the following letter of explanation : — 

Head-Quarters Department op the Missouri, i 
St. Louis, December 8, 1S61. \ 

My Dear Colonel : — Tours of the 4th instant is just received. Order No. 3 was, in my mind, 
clearly a military necessity. Unauthorized persons, black or white, free or slaves, must he kept 
out of our camps, unless we are willing to publish to the enemy every thing wedo or intend to 
do. It was a military and not apolitical order. 

I am ready to carry out any lawful instructions in regard to fugitive slaves which my supe- 
riors may give me, and to enforce any law which Congress may pass. But I cannot make law, 
and will not violate it. You know my private opinion on the policy of confiscating the slave 
property of the rebels in arms. If Congress shall pass it. you may be certain' that I shall enforce 
it. Perhaps my policy as to the treatment of rebels and their property is as well set out In Or- 
der No. 13, issued the day your letter was written, as I could now describe it. 

Hon. F. P. Blair, Washington. 



\ 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 331 

people of that State, denouncing as false and calumnious 
the statements widely circulated of the designs and sen- 
timents of the Union armies, and declaring that they 
sought only "to put down rebellion by making war 
against those in arms, their aiders and abettors" — and 
that they came to "vindicate the Constitution, and to 
preserve and perpetuate civil and religious liberty under 
a flag that was embalmed in the blood of our Revolution- 
ary fathers." In all this the Government adhered, with 
just and rigorous fidelity, to the principles it had adopt- 
ed for its conduct at the outset of the war ; and in its 
anxiety to avoid all cause of complaint and all appear- 
ance of justification for those who were in arms against its 
authority, it incurred the distrust and even the denuncia- 
tion of the more zealous and vehement among its own 
friends and supporters in the Northern States. 

On the 22d of July, in order to secure unity of action 
among the commanders of the several military departments, 
upon the general use to be made of rebel property, the 
President directed the issue of the following order : — 

War Department, Washington, July 22, 1S62. 

First. Ordered that military commanders within the States of Virginia, 
North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, 
and Arkansas, in an orderly manner seize and use any property, real or 
personal, which may be necessary or convenient for their several com- 
mands, for supplies, or for other military purposes; and that while prop- 
erty may be destroyed for proper military objects, none shall be destroyed 
in wantonness or malice. 

Second. That military and naval commanders shall employ as laborers, 
within and from said States, so many persons of African descent as can 
be advantageously used for military or naval purposes, giving them reason- 
able wages for their labor. 

Third. That, as to both property, and persons of African descent, 
accounts shall be kept sufficiently accurate and in detail to show quan- 
tities and amounts, and from whom both property and such persons shall 
have come, as a basis upon which compensation can be made in proper 
cases; and the several departments of this Government shall attend to and 
perform their appropriate parts towards the execution of these orders. 

By order of the President : 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

And on the 23th of July he issued the following procla- 



332 The Life, Public Services, and 

mation, warning the people of the Southern States against 
persisting in their rebellion, under the penalties prescribed 
by the confiscation act passed by Congress at its preceding 
session : — 

By order of the President of the United States. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

In pursuance of the sixth section of the Act of Congress, entitled " An 
Act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and 
confiscate the property of rebels, and for other purposes," approved July 
17th, 1862, and which Act, and the joint resolution explanatory thereof, 
are herewith published, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, do hereby proclaim to and warn all persons within the contem- 
plation of said sixth section to cease participating in, aiding, countenan- 
cing, or abetting the existing rebellion, or any rebellion, against the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, and to return to their proper allegiance to 
the United States, on pain of the forfeiture and seizures as within and 
by said sixth section provided. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-fifth day of July, in the 

P -, year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, 
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

Our relations with foreign nations during the year 1862 
continued to be in the main satisfactory. The President 
held throughout, in all his intercourse with European 
powers, the same firm and decided language in regard to 
the rebellion which had characterized the correspondence 
of the previous year. OurMinister in London, with vigi- 
lance and ability, pressed upon the British Government 
the duty of preventing the rebel authorities from building 
and fitting out vessels of war in English ports to prey 
upon the commerce of the United States; but in every 
instance these remonstrances Were without practical effect. 
The Government could never be convinced that the evi- 
dence in any specific case was sufficient to warrant its 
interference, and thus one vessel after another was allowed 
to leave British ports, go to some other equally neutral 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 333 

locality and take on board munitions of war, and enter 
upon its career of piracy in the rebel service. As early 
as the 18th of February, 1862, Mr. Adams had called the 
attention of Earl Russell to the fact that a steam gunboat, 
afterwards called the Oreto, was being built in a Liverpool 
ship-yard, under the supervision of well-known agents 
of the rebel Government, and evidently intended for the 
rebel service. The Foreign Secretary replied that the 
vessel was intended for the use of parties in Palermo, 
Sicily, and that there was no reason to suppose she was 
intended for any service hostile to the United States. Mr. 
Adams sent evidence to show that the claim of being 
designed for service in Sicily was a mere pretext ; but 
he failed, by this dispatch, as in a subsequent personal 
conference with Earl Russell on the 15th of April, to in- 
duce him to take any steps for her detention. • She sailed 
soon after, and was next heard of at the British "neutral" 
port of Nassau, where she was seized by the authorities 
at the instance of the American consul, but released by 
the same authorities on the arrival of Captain Semmes to 
take command of her as a Confederate privateer. In Oc- 
tober an intercepted letter was sent to Earl Russell by 
Mr. Adams, written by the Secretary of the Navy of the 
Confederate Government, to a person in England, com- 
plaining that he had not followed the Oreto on her de- 
parture from England and taken command of her, in ac- 
cordance with his original appointment. In June, Mr. 
Adams called Earl Russell's attention to another power- 
ful war-steamer, then in progress of construction in the 
ship-yard of a member of the House of Commons, evi- 
dently intended for the rebel service. This complaint 
went through the usual formalities, was referred to the 
"Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury," who 
reported in due time that they could discover no evidence 
sufficient to warrant the detention of the vessel. Soon 
afterwards, however, evidence was produced which was 
sufficient to warrant the collector of the port of Liverpool 
in ordering her detention ; but before the necessary for- 
malities could be gone through with, and through delays 



334 The Life, Public Services, and 

caused, as Earl Russell afterwards explained, "by the 
"sudden development of a malady of the Queen's ad- 
vocate, totally incapacitating him for the transaction of 
"business," the vessel, whose managers were duly adver- 
tised of every thing that was going on, slipped out of port, 
took on board an armament in the Azores, and entered 
the rebel service as a privateer. Our Government sub- 
sequently notified the British Government that it would 
be held responsible for all the damage which this vessel, 
known first as "290," and afterwards as the Alabama, 
might inflict on American commerce. 

Discussions were had upon the refusal of the British 
authorities to permit American vessels of war to take in 
coal at Nassau, upon the systematic attempts of British 
merchants to violate our blockade of Southern ports, and 
upon the recapture, by the crew, of the Emily St. Pierre, 
which had been seized in attempting to run the blockade 
at Charleston, and was on her way as a prize to the port 
of New York. The British Government vindicated her 
rescue as sanctioned by the principles of international law. 

The only incident of special importance which occurred 
during the year in our foreign relations, grew out of an 
attempt on the part of the Emperor of the French to secure 
a joint effort at mediation between the Government of the 
United States and the rebel authorities, on the part of 
Great Britain and Russia in connection with his own 
Government. Rumors of such an intention on the part 
of the Emperor led Mr. Dayton to seek an interview with 
the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the 6th of November, 
at which indications of such a purpose were apparent. 
The attempt failed, as both the other powers consulted 
declined to join in any such action. The French Govern- 
ment thereupon determined to take action alone, and on 
the 9th of January, 1863, the Foreign Secretary wrote to 
the French Minister at Washington a dispatch, declaring 
the readiness of the French Emperor to do an}^ thing in 
his power which might tend towards the termination of 
the war, and suggesting that " nothing would hinder the 
Government of the United States, 'Without renouncing the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 335 

advantages which it believes it can attain "by a continua- 
tion of the war, from entering upon informal conferences 
with the Confederates of the South, in case they should 
show themselves disposed thereto." The specific advan- 
tages of such a conference, and the mode in which it was 
to be brought about, were thus set forth in this dispatch : — 

Representatives or commissioners of the two parties could assemble at 
such point as it should be deemed proper to designate, and which could, 
for this purpose, be declared neutral. Reciprocal complaints could be 
examined into at this meeting. In place of the accusations which North 
and South mutually cast upon each other at this time, would be substituted 
an argumentative discussion of the interests which divide them. They 
would seek out by means of well-ordered and profound deliberations 
whether these interests are definitively irreconcilable — whether separation 
is an extreme which can no longer be avoided, or whether the memories 
of a common existence, whether the ties of any kind which have made of 
the North and of the South one sole and whole Federative State, and have 
borne them on to so high a degree of prosperity, are not more powerful 
than the causes which have placed arms in the hands of the two popula- 
tions. A negotiation, the object of which would be thus determinate, 
would not involve any of the objections raised against the diplomatic in- 
terventions of Europe, and, without giving birth to the same hopes as the 
immediate conclusion of an armistice, would exercise a happy influence 
on the march of events. 

Why, therefore, should not a combination which respects all the rela- 
tions of the United States obtain the approbation of the Federal Govern- 
ment ? # Persuaded on our part that it is in conformity with their true 
interests, we do not hesitate to recommend it to their attention; and, not 
having sought in the project of a mediation of the maritime powers of 
Europe any vain display of influence, we would applaud, with entire free- 
dom from all susceptibility of self-esteem, the opening of a negotiation 
which would invite the two populations to discuss, without the co-opera- 
tion of Europe, the solution of their differences. 

The reply which the President directed to be made to 
this proposition embraces so many points of permanent 
interest and importance in connection with his Adminis- 
tration, that we give it in full. It was as follows : — 

Depautmknt of State. Wasitimoto:*. February 6. 1S63. 

Sir: — The intimation given in your dispatch of January 15th, that I 
might expect a special visit from M. Mercier, has been realized, lie called 
on the 3d instant, and gave me a copy of a dispatch whic/i he had just then 
received from M. Drouyn de lTIuys tinder the date of the 9th of January. 



336 The Life., Public Services, and 

I have taken the President's instructions, and I now proceed to give 
you his views upon the subject in question. 

It has been considered with seriousness, resulting from the reflection 
that the people of France are known to he faultless sharers with the 
American nation in the misfortunes and calamities of our unhappy civil 
war; nor do we on this, anymore than on other occasions, forget the 
traditional friendship of the two countries, which we unhesitatingly be- 
lieve has inspired the counsels that M. Drouyn de l'Huys has imparted. 

He says, "the Federal Government does not despair, we know, of giv- 
ing more active impulse to hostilities;" and again he remarks, "the pro- 
traction of the struggle, in a word, has not shaken the confidence (of the 
Federal Government) in the definite success of its efforts." 

These passages seem to me to do unintentional injustice to the language, 
whether confidential or public, in which this Government has constantly 
spoken on the subject of the war. It certainly has had and avowed only 
one purpose — a determination to preserve the integrity of the country. 
So far from admitting any laxity of effort, or betraying any despondency, 
the Government has, on the contrary, borne itself cheerfully in all vicissi- 
tudes, with unwavering confidence in an early and complete triumph of 
the national cause. Now, when we are, in a manner, invited by a friendly 
power to review the twenty-one months' history of the conflict, we find 
no occasion to abate that confidence. Through such an alternation of 
victories and defeats as is the appointed incident of every war, the laud 
and naval forces of the United States have steadily advanced, reclaiming 
from the insurgents the ports, forts, and posts which they had treacher- 
ously seized before the strife actually began, and even before it was seri- 
ously apprehended. So many of the States and districts which the insur- 
gents included in the field of their projected exclusive slaveholding 
dominions have already been re-established under the flag of the tlmon, 
that they now retain only the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Texas, 
with half of Virginia, half of North Carolina, two-thirds of Soath Caro- 
lina, half of Mississippi, and one-third respectively of Arkansas and 
Louisiana. The national forces hold even this small territory in close 
blockade and siege. 

This Government, if required, does not hesitate to submit its achieve 
ments to the test of comparison; and it maintains that in no part of the 
world, and in no times, ancient or modern, has a nation, when rendered 
all unready for combat by the enjoyment of eighty years of almost un- 
broken peace, so quickly awakened at the alarm of sediiion, put forth 
energies so vigorous, and achieved successes so signal and effective aa 
those which have marked the progress of this contest on the part of the 
Union. 

M. Drouyn de l'Huys, I fear, has taken other light than the correspond- 
ence of this Government for his guidance in ascertaining its temper and 
firmness. He has probably read of divisions of sentiment among- those 
who hold themselves forth as organs of public opinion here, and has giveu 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 337 

to them an undue importance. It is to be remembered. Uiat tbis ia a nation 
of thirty millions, civilly divided into forty-one States and Territories, 
which cover an expanse hardly less than Europe ; that the people are a 
pure democracy, exercising everywhere the utmost freedom of speech and 
suffrage ; that a great crisis necessarily produces vehement as well as pro- 
found debate, with sharp collisions of individual, local, and sectional 
interests, sentiments, and ambitions ; and that this heat of controversy is 
increased by the intervention of speculations, interests, prejudices, and 
passions from every other part of the civilized world. It is, however, 
through such debates that the agreement of the nation upon any subject 
is habitually attained, its resolutions formed, and its policy established. 
"While there has been much difference of popular opinion and favor 
concerning the agents who shall carry on the war, the principles on 
which it shall be waged, and the means with which it shall be pros- 
ecuted, M. Drouyn de l'Huys has only to refer to the statute-book of 
Congress and the Executive ordinances to learn that the national ac- 
tivity has hitherto been, and yet is, as efficient as that of any other 
nation, whatever its form of government, ever was, under circumstances 
of equally grave import to its peace, safety, and welfare. Not one voice 
has been raised anywhere, out of the immediate field of the insurrection, 
in favor of foreign intervention, of mediation, of arbitration, or of com- 
promise, with the relinquishment of one acre of the national domain, or 
the surrender of even one constitutional franchise. At the same time, it 
is manifest to the world that our resources are yet abundant, and our 
credit adequate to the existing emergency. 

What M. Drouyn de l'Huys suggests is, that this Government shall ap- 
point commissioners to meet, on neutral ground, commissioners of the 
insurgents. He supposes that in the conferences to be thus held, recipro- 
cal complaints could be discussed, and in place of the accusations which 
the North and South now mutually cast upon each other, the conferees 
would be engaged with discussions of the interests which divide them. 
He assumes, further, that the commissioners would seek, by means of well- 
ordered and profound deliberation, whether these interests are definitively 
irreconcilable, whether separation is an extreme that can no longer be 
avoided, or whether the memories of a common existence, the ties of every 
kind which have made the North and the South one whole Federative 
State, and have borne them on to so high a degree of prosperity, are not 
more powerful than the causes which have placed arms in the hands of the 
two populations. 

The suggestion is not an extraordinary one, and it may well have Deen 
thought by the Emperor of the French, in the earnestness of his benevo- 
lent desire for the restoration of peace, a feasible one. But when M. 
Drouyn de l'Huys shall come to review it in the light in which it must 
necssearily be examined in this country, I think he can hardly fail to per- 
ceive that it amounts to nothing less than a proposition that, while this 
Government is engaged in suppressing an armed insurrection, with the 
22 



338 The Life, Public Services, and 

pnrpose of maintaining the constitutional national authority, and preserving 
the integrity of the country, it shall enter into diplomatic discussion with 
the insurgents upon the questions whether that authority shall not be re- 
nounced, and whether the country shall not be delivered over to disunion, 
to be quickly followed by ever-increasing anarchy. 

If it were possible for the Government of the United States to com- 
promise the national authority so far as to enter into such debates, it is 
not easy to perceive what good results could be obtained by them. 

The commissioners must agree in recommending either that the Union 
shall stand or that it shall be voluntarily dissolved ; or else they must leave 
the vital question unsettled, to abide at last the fortunes of the war. The 
Government has not shut out the knowledge of the present temper, any 
more than of the past purposes, of the insurgents. There is not the least 
ground to suppose that the controlling actors would be persuaded at this 
moment, by any arguments which national commissioners could offer, to 
forego the ambition that has impelled them to the disloyal position they 
are occupying. Any commissioners who should be appointed by these 
actors, or through their dictation or influence, must enter the conference 
imbued with the spirit and pledged to the personal fortunes of the insur- 
gent chiefs. The loyal people in the insurrectionary States would be un- 
heard, and any offer of peace by this Government, on the condition of the 
maintenance of the Union, must necessarily be rejected. 

On the other hand, as I have already intimated, this Government has 
not the least thought of relinquishing the trust which has been confided 
to it by the nation under the most solemn of all political sanctions; and 
if it had any such thought, it would still have abundant reason to know 
that peace proposed at the cost of dissolution would be immediately, un- 
reservedly, and indignantly rejected by the American people. It is a great 
mistake that European statesmen make, if they suppose this people are 
demoralized. Whatever, in the case of an insurrection, the people of 
France, or of Great Britain, or of Switzerland, or of the Netherlands would 
do to save their national existence, no matter how the strife might be re- 
garded by or might affect foreign nations, just so much, and certainly no 
less, the people of the United States will do, if necessary to save for the com- 
mon benefit the region which is bounded by the Pacific and the Atlantic 
coasts, and by the shores of the Gulfs of St. Lawrence and Mexico, together 
with the free and common navigation of the Rio Grande, Missouri, Arkan- 
sas, Mississippi, Ohio, St. Lawrence, Hudson, Delaware, Potomac, and 
other natural highways by which this land, which to them is at once a 
land of inheritance and a land of promise, is opened and watered. Even 
if the agents of the American people now exercising their power should, 
through fear or faction, fall below this height of the national virtue, they 
would be speedily, yet constitutionally, replaced by others of sterner 
character and patriotism. 

I must bo allowed to say, also, that M. Drouyn de l'Huys errs in hia 
description of the parties to the present conflict. We have here, in the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 339 

political sense, no North and South, no Northern and Southern States. 
We have an insurrectionary party, which is located chiefly upon and adja- 
cent to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico ; and we have, on the other hand, 
a loyal people, who constitute not only Northern States, but also Eastern, 
Middle, Western, and Southern States. 

I have on many occasions heretofore submitted to the French Govern- 
ment the President's views of the interests, and the ideas more effective 
for the time than even interests, which lie at the bottom of the determi- 
nation of the American Government and people to maintain the Federal 
Union. The President has done the same thing in his Messages and other 
public declarations. I refrain, therefore, from reviewing that argument in 
connection with the existing question. 

M. Drouyn de PHuys draws to his aid the conferences which took place 
between the Colonies and Great Britain in our Revolutionary War. ITo 
will allow us to assume that action in the crisis of a nation must accord 
with its necessities, and therefore can seldom be conformed to precedents. 
Great Britain, when entering on the negotiations, had manifestly come to 
entertain doubts of her ultimate success; and it is certain that the councils 
of the Colonies could not fail to take new courage, if not to gain other 
advantage, when the parent State compromised so far as to treat of peace 
on the terms of conceding their independence. 

It is true, indeed, that peace must come at some time, and that con- 
ferences must attend, if they are not allowed to precede the pacification. 
There is, however, a better form for such conferences than the one which 
M. Drouyn de THuys suggests. The latter would be palpably in deroga- 
tion of the Constitution of the United States, and would carry no weight, 
because destitute of the sanction necessary to bind either the disloyal or 
the loyal portions of the people. On the other hand, the Congress of the 
United States furnishes a constitutional forum for debates between the 
alienated parties. Senators and representatives from the loyal portion 
of the people are there already, freely empowered to confer ; and seats 
also are vacant, and inviting senators and representatives of this discon- 
tented party who may be constitutionally sent there from the States in- 
volved in the insurrection. Moreover, the conferences which can thus be 
held in Congress have this great advantage over any that could be organ- 
ized upon the plan of M. Drouyn de lTIuys, namely, that the Congress, if 
it were thought wise, could call a national convention to adopt its recom- 
mendations, and give them all the solemnity and binding force of organic 
law. Such conferences between the alienated parties may be said to have 
already begun. Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri 
— States which are claimed by the insurgents — are already represented in 
Congress, and submitting with perfect freedom and in a proper spirit 
their advice upon the course best calculated to bring about, in the shortest 
time, a firm, lasting, and honorable peace. Representatives have been 
sent also from Louisiana, and others are understood to be coming from 
Arkansas. 



310 The Life, Public Services, and 

There is a preponderating argument in favor of the Congressional form 
of conference over that which is suggested hy M. Drouyn de l'Huys, 
namely, that while an accession to the latter would bring this Govern- 
ment into a concurrence with the insurgents in disregarding and setting 
aside an important part of the Constitution of the United States, and so 
would be of pernicious example, the Congressional conference, on the 
contrary, preserves and gives new strength to that sacred writing which 
must continue through future ages the sheet-anchor of the Republic. 

You will be at liberty to read this dispatch to M. Drouyn de l'Huys, 
and to give him a copy if he shall desire it. 

To the end that you may be informed of the whole case, I transmit a 
copy of M. Drouyn de l'Huys's dispatch. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

"William H. Sewaed. 

The effect of this dispatch was very marked. It put an 
end to all talk of foreign intervention in any form, and 
met the cordial and even enthusiastic approbation of the 
people throughout the country. Its closing suggestions, 
as to the mode in which the Southern States could resume 
their old relations to the Federal Government, were re- 
garded as significant indications of the policy the Ad- 
ministration was inclined to pursue whenever the ques- 
tion of restoration should become practical ; and while 
they were somewhat sharply assailed in some quarters, 
they commanded the general assent of the great "body of 
the people. 

The subject of appointing commissioners to confer with 
the authorities of the rebel Confederacy had been dis- 
cussed, before the appearance of this correspondence, in 
the Northern States. It had emanated from the party 
most openly in hostility to the Administration, and those 
men in that party w r ho had been most distinctly opposed 
to any measures of coercion, or any resort to force for the 
purpose of overcoming the rebellion. It was represented 
by these persons that the civil authorities of the Confed- 
eracy were restrained from abandoning the contest only 
by the refusal or neglect of the Government to give them 
an opportunity of doing so without undue humiliation 
and dishonor ; and in December, Hon. Fernando Wood, 
of New York, wrote to the President, informing him that 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 341 

he liad reason to "believe the Southern States would "send 
representatives to the next Congress, provided a full and 
general amnesty should permit them to do so," and ask- 
ing the appointment of commissioners to ascertain the 
truth of these assurances. 

To this request the President made the following re- 
ply :— 

Executive Mansion, Washington, December 12, 1862. 
lion. Fernando Wood : 

My Dear Sir : — Your letter of the 8th, with the accompanying note of 
same date, was received yesterday. 

The most important paragraph in the letter, as I consider, is in these 
words : " On the 25th of November last I was advised by an authority 
which I deemed likely to be well informed, as well as reliable and truth- 
ful, that the Southern States would send representatives to the next Con- 
gress, provided that a full and general amnesty should permit them to do 
bo. No guarantee or terms were asked for other than the amnesty re- 
ferred to." 

I strongly suspect your information will prove to be groundless ; never- 
theless, I thank you for communicating it to me. Understanding the 
phrase in the paragraph above quoted — " the Southern States would send 
representatives to the next Congress " — to be substantially the same as 
that "the people of the Southern States would cease resistance, and would 
reinaugurate, submit to, and maintain the national authority within the 
limits of such States, under the Constitution of the United States," I say 
that in such case the war would cease on the part of the United States; 
and that if within a reasonable time " a full and general amnesty" were 
necessary to such end, it would not be withheld. 

I do not think it would be proper now to communicate this, formally 
or informally, to the people of the Southern States. My belief is that 
they already know it; and when they choose, if ever, they can commu- 
nicate with me unequivocally. Nor do I think it proper now to suspend 
military operations to try any experiment of negotiation. 

I should nevertheless receive, with great pleasure, the exact informa- 
tion you now have, and also such other as you may in any way obtain. 
Such information might be more valuable before the 1st of January than 
afterwards. 

While there is nothing in this letter which I shall dread to see in his- 
tory, it is, perhaps, better for the present that its existence should not 
become public. I therefore have to request that you will regard it as 
confidential. Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

The intimation in this letter that information concerning 



342 The Life, Public Services, and 

the alleged willingness of the rebels to resume their alle- 
giance, "might be more valuable before the 1st of Jan- 
uary than afterwards," had reference to the Emancipation 
Proclamation, which he proposed to issue on that day, 
unless the offer of his preliminary proclamation should 
be accepted. That proclamation had been issued on the 
22d of September, and the sense of responsibility under 
which this step was taken, was clearly indicated in the 
following remarks made by the President on the evening 
of the 24th of that month, in acknowledging the compli- 
ment of a serenade at the Executive Mansion : — 

Fellow-Citizens : — I appear before yon to do little more than acknowl- 
edge the courtesy you pay me, and to thank you for it. I have not been 
distinctly informed why it is that on this occasion you appear to do me 
this honor, though I suppose it is because of the proclamation. What I 
did, I did after a very full deliberation, and under a very heavy and sol- 
emn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I have made no mis- 
take. I shall make no attempt on this occasion to sustain what I have 
done or said by any comment. It is now for the country and the world 
to pass judgment, and maybe take action upon it. I will say no more 
upon this subject. In my position I am environed with difficulties. Yet 
they are scarcely so great as the difficulties of those who, upon the battle- 
field, are endeavoring to purchase with their blood and their lives the fu- 
ture happiness and prosperity of this country. Let us never forget them. 
On the 14th and 17th days of this present month there have been battles 
bravely, skilfully, and successfully fought. We do not yet know the par- 
ticulars. Let us be sure that, in giving praise to certain individuals, we 
do no injustice to others. I only ask you, at the conclusion of these few 
remarks, to give three hearty cheers to all good and brave officers and 
men who fought those successful battles. 

In November the President published the following 
order regarding the observance of the day of rest, and 
the vice of profanity, in the army and navy : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 16, 1S62. 
The President, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, desires and 
enjoins the orderly observance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in 
the military and naval service. The importance for man and beast of the 
prescribed weekly rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, 
a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people, and a 
due regard for the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the army and 
navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 343 

The discipline and character of the National forces should not suffer, 
nor the cause they defend be imperilled, by the profanation of the day or 
name of the Most High. "At this time of public distress," adopting the 
words of Washington in 1776, "men may find enough to do in the service 
of God and their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and im- 
morality.'' The first general order issued by the Father of his Country, 
after the Declaration of Independence, indicates the spirit in which our 
institutions were founded, and should ever be defended. "The general 
hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act 
as becomes a Christian soldier defending the dearest rights and liberties 
of his country." 

A. Lincoln. 



34.4 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER XL 

THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION OP 1862-'63.— MESSAGE OP THE 
PRESIDENT AND GENERAL ACTION OP THE SESSION. 

The President's Message. — Are the Rebel States Aliens? — The Pro- 
vision' for a Draft. — Message on Tns Finances and Currency. — 
Admission of Western Virginia. — Close of the Session. 

The third session of the Thirty-seventh Congress opened 
on the 1st day of December, 1862 — the supporters of the 
Administration having a large majority in "both "branches. 
The general condition of the country, and the progress 
made in quelling the rebellion, are clearly set forth in the 
following Message of President Lincoln, which was sent 
in to Congress at the beginning of the session : — 

Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives: — 

Since your lust annual assembling, another year of health and bountiful 
harvests has passed, and while it has not pleased the Almighty to bless 
us with the return of peace, we can but press on, guided by the best light 
He gives us, trusting that, in His own good time and wise way, all will 
be well. 

The correspondence, touching foreign affairs, which has taken place 
during the last year, is herewith submitted, in virtual compliance with a 
request to that effect made by the House of Representatives near the close 
of the last session of Congress. If the condition of our relations with 
other nations is less gratifying than it has usually been at former periods, 
it is certinly more satisfactory than a nation so unhappily distracted as 
we are might reasonably have apprehended. In the month of June last 
there were some grounds to expect that the maritime Powers, which, at 
the beginning of our domestic difficulties, so unwisely and unncessarily, 
as we think, recognized the insurgents as a belligerent, would soon recede 
from that position, which has proved only less injurious to themselves 
than to our own country. But the temporary reverses which afterwards 
befell the National arms, and which were exaggerated by our own. 
disloyal citizens abroad, have hitherto delayed that act of simple jus- 
tice. 

The civil war which has so radically changed for the moment the occu- 
pations and habits of the American people, has necessarily disturbed the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 345 

social condition, and affected very deeply the prosperity of the nations 
with which we have carried on a commerce that has heen steadily in- 
creasing throughout a period of half a century. It has, at the same time, 
excited political amhitions and apprehensions which have produced a pro- 
found agitation throughout the civilized world. In this unusual agitation 
we have forborne from taking part in any controversy between foreign 
States, and between parties or factions in such States. "We have attempt- 
ed no propagandism, and acknowledged no revolution. But we have left 
to every nation the exclusive conduct and management of its own affairs. 
Our struggle has been, of course, contemplated by foreign nations with 
reference less to its own merits than to its supposed and often exaggerated 
effects and consequences resulting to those nations themselves. Never- 
theless, complaint on the part of this Government, even 3f it were just, 
would certainly be unwise. 

The treaty with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave-trade 
has been put into operation with a good prospect of complete success. It 
is an occasion of special pleasure to acknowledge that the execution of it 
on the part of Her Majesty's Government has been marked with a jealous 
respect for the authority of the United States and the rights of their moial 
and loyal citizens. 

The convention with Hanover for the abolition of the stade dues 
has been carried into full effect, under the act of Congress for that pur- 
pose. 

A blockade of three thousand miles of sea-coast could not be established 
and vigorously enforced, in a season of great commercial activity like the 
present, without committing occasional mistakes, and inflicting uninten- 
tional injuries upon foreign nations and their subjects. 

A civil war occurring in a country where foreigners reside and carry 
on trade under treaty stipulations is necessarily fruitful of complaints of 
the violation of neutral rights. All such collisions tend to excite misap- 
prehensions, and possibly to produce mutual reclamations between nations 
which have a common interest in preserving peace and friendship. In 
clear cases of these kinds I have, so far as possible, heard and redressed 
complaints which have been presented by friendly Powers. There is s'ill, 
however, a large and an augmenting number of doubtful cases, upon 
which the Government is unable to agree with the Governments whose 
protection is demanded by the claimants. There are, moreover, many 
cases in which the United States, or their citizens, suffer wrongs from the 
naval or military authorities of foreign nations, which the Governments 
of these States are not at once prepared to redress. I have proposed to 
some of the foreign States thus interested mutual conventions to examine 
and adjust such complaints. This proposition has been made especially 
to Great Britain, to France, to Spain, and to Prussia. In each case it has 
been kindly received, but has not yet been formally adopted. 

I deem it my duty to recommend an appropriation in behalf of the 
owners of the Norwegian bark Admiral P. Tordenskiold, which vessel 



346 The Life, Public Services, and 

was in May, 1S61, prevented by the commander of the blockading force 
off Charleston from leaving that port with cargo, notwithstanding a sim- 
ilar privilege had, shortly before, been granted to an English vessel. I 
have directed the Secretary of State to cause the papers in the case to be 
communicated to the proper committees. 

Applications have been made to me by many free Americans of African 
descent to favor their emigration, with a view to such colonization as was 
contemplated in recent acts of Congress. Other parties, at home and 
abroad — some from interested motives, others npon patriotic considera- 
tions, and still others influenced by philanthropic sentiments — have sug- 
gested similar measures ; while, on the other hand, several of the Span- 
ish-American Republics have protested against the sending of such colo- 
nies to their respective territories. Under these circumstances, I have 
declined to move any such colony to any State without first obtaining the 
consent of its Government, with an agreement on its part to receive and 
protect such emigrants in all the rights of freemen ; and I have at the 
same time offered to the several States situated within the tropics, or 
having colonies there, to negotiate with them, subject to the advice and 
consent of the Senate, to favor the voluntary emigration of persons of that 
class tD \\e\r respective territories, upon conditions which shall be equal, 
just, ai~G humane. Liberia and Hayti are, as yet, the only countries to 
which colonists of African descent from here could go with certainty of 
being received and adopted ^3 citizens ; and I regret to say such persons, 
contemplating colonization, do not seem so willing to migrate to those 
countries as to some others, nor so willing as I think their interest de 
mands. I believe, however, opinion among them in this respect is 
improving ; and that ere long there will be an augmented and considera- 
ble migration to both these countries from the United States. 

The new commercial treaty between the United States and the Sultan 
of Turkey has been carried into execution. 

A commercial and consular treaty has been negotiated, subject to the 
Senate's consent, with Liberia; and a similar negotiation is now pending 
wiili the Republic of Hayti. A considerable improvement of the national 
commerce is expected to result from these measures. 

Our relations with Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, 
Prussia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, Raly, Rome, and 
the other European States remain undisturbed. Very favorable rela- 
tions also continue to be maintained with Turkey, Morocco, China, and 
Japan. 

During the last year there has not only been no change of our previous 
relations with the Independent States of our own continent, but more 
friendly sentiments than have heretofore existed are believed to be en 
tertained by these neighbors, whose safety and progress are so intimately 
connected with our own. This statement especially applies to Mexico, 
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, Peru, and Chili. 

The commission under the convention with the Republic of New Gra- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 347 

nada closed its session -without having audited and passed upon all tho 
claims which were submitted to it. A proposition is pending to revive 
the convention, that it be able to do more complete justice. The joint 
commission between the United States and the Republic of Costa Rica 
has completed its labors and submitted its report. 

I have favored the project for connecting the United States with Eu- 
rope by an Atlantic telegraph, and a similar project to extend the tele- 
graph from San Francisco to connect by a Pacific telegraph with the line 
which is being extended across the Russian Empire. 

The Territories of the United States, with unimportant exceptions, 
have remained undisturbed by the civil war; and they are exhibiting 
such evidence of prosperity as justifies an expectation that some of them 
will soon be in a condition to be organized as States, and be constitution- 
ally admitted into the Federal Union. 

The immense mineral resources of some of those Territories ought to 
be developed as rapidly as possible. Every step in that direction would 
have a tendency to improve the revenues of the Government and dimin- 
ish tho burdens of the people. It is worthy of your serious considera- 
tion whether some extraordinary measures to promote that end cannot 
be adopted. The means which suggests itself as most likely to be effec- 
tive, is a scientific exploration of the mineral regions in those Territories, 
with a view to the publication of its results at home and in foreign coun- 
tries — results which cannot fail to be auspicious. 

The condition of the finances will claim your most diligent considera- 
tion. The vast expenditures incident to the military and naval opera- 
tions required for the suppression of the rebellion have been hitherto 
met with a promptitude and certainty unusual in similar circumstances ; 
and the public credit has been fully maintained. The continuance of the 
war, however, and the increased disbursements made necessary by the 
augmented forces now in the field, demand your best reflections as to the 
best modes of providing the necessary revenue, without injury to busi- 
ness, and with the least possible burdens upon labor. 

The suspension of specie payments by the banks, soon after the com- 
mencement of your last session, made large issues of United States notes 
unavoidable. In no other way could the payment of the troops and the 
satisfaction of other just demands, be so economically or so well provided 
for. The judicious legislation of Congress, securing the receivability of 
these notes for loans and internal duties, and making them a legal tender 
for other debts, has made them a universal currency, and has satisfied, 
partially at least, and for the time, the long felt want of a uniform circu- 
lating medium, saving thereby to the people immense sums in discounts 
and exchanges. 

A return to specie payments, however, at the earliest period compati- 
ble with due regard to all interests concerned, should ever be kept in 
view. Fluctuations in the value of currency are always injurious, and 
to reduce these fluctuations to the iowest possible point will always be a 



348 The Life, Public Services, and 

leading purpose in wise legislation. Convertibility, prompt and certain 
convertibility into coin, is generally acknowledged to be the best and 
surest safeguard against them ; and it is extremely doubtful whether a 
circulation of United States notes, payable in coin, and sufficiently large 
for the wants of the people, can be permanently, usefully, and safely 
maintained. 

Is there, then, any other mode in which the necessary provision for 
the public wants can be made, and the great advantages of a safe and, 
uniform currency secured? 

I know of none which promises so certain results, and is, at the same 
time, so unobjectionable as the organization of banking associations, un- 
der a general act of Congress, well guarded in its provisions. To such 
associations the Government might furnish circulating notes, on the 
security of United States bonds deposited in the Treasury. These notes, 
prepared under the supervision of proper officers, being uniform in ap- 
pearance and security, and convertible always into coin, would at once 
protect labor against the evils of a vicious currency, and facilitate com- 
merce by cheap and safe exchanges. 

A moderate reservation from the interest on the bonds would compen- 
sate the United States for the preparation and distribution of the notes, 
and a general supervision of the system, and would lighten the burden 
of that part of the public debt employed as securities. The public credit, 
moreover, would be greatly improved, and the negotiation of new loans 
greatly facilitated by the steady market demand for Government bonds 
which the adoption of the proposed system would create. 

It is an additional recommendation of the measure, of considerable 
weight, in my judgment, that it would reconcile as far as possible all 
existing interests, by the opportunity offered to existing institutions to 
reorganize under the act, substituting only the secured uniform national 
circulation for the local and various circulation, secured and unsecured, 
now issued by them. 

The receipts into the Treasury, from all sources, including loans, and 
balance from the preceding year, for the fiscal year ending on the 30th 
of June, 1862, were $583,885,247.60, of which sum $49,056,397.62 were 
derived from customs; $1,795,331.73 from the direct tax; from public 
lands, $152,203.77; from miscellaneous sources, $931,787.64; from loans 
in all forms, $529,692,460.50. The remainder, $2,257,065.80, was the 
balance from last year. 

The disbursements during the same period were for Congressional, 
Executive, and Judicial purposes, $5,939,009.29; for foreign intercourse, 
$1,339,710.35; for miscellaneous expenses, including the mints, loans, 
post-office deficiencies, collection of revenue, and other like charges, 
$14,129,771.50; for expenses under the Interior Department, $3,102,- 
985.52 ; under the War Department, $394,368,407.36 ; under the Navy 
Department, $42,674,569.69; for interest on public debt, $13,190,324.45; 
and for payment of public debt, including reimbursement of temporary 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 349 

loan, .and redemptions, $90,096,922.09; making an aggregate of $570,- 
841,700.25, and leaving a balance in the Treasury on the 1st day of July, 
1602, of $13,043,546.81. 

It should be observed that the sum of $96,090,922.09, expended for 
reimbursements and redemption of public debt, being included also in 
the loans made, may be properly deducted, both from receipts and expen- 
ditures, leaving the actual receipts for the year $487,788,324.97, and the 
expenditures, $474,744,778.10. 

Other information on the subject of the finances will be found in the 
report of the Secretary of the Treasury, to whose statements and viewa 
I invite your most candid and considerate attention. 

The reports of the Secretaries of "War and of the Navy are herewith 
transmitted. These reports, though lengthy, are scarcely more than 
brief abstracts of the very numerous and extensive transactions and 
operations conducted through those Departments. Nor could I give a 
summary of them here, upon any principle which would admit of its 
being much shorter than the reports themselves. I therefore content 
myself with laying the reports before you, and asking your attention to 
them. 

It gives me pleasure to report a decided improvement in the financial 
condition of the Post-Office Department, as compared with several pre- 
ceding years. The receipts for the fiscal year 1861 amounted to 
$8,349,296.40, which embraced the revenue from all the States of the 
Union for three-quarters of that year. Notwithstanding the cessation 
of revenue from the so-called seceded States during the last fiscal year, 
the increase of the correspondence of the loyal States has been suffi- 
cient to produce a revenue during the same year of $8,299,820.90, 
being only $50,000 less than was derived from all the States of the 
Union during the previous year. The expenditures show a still more 
favorable result. The amount expended in 1861 was $13,600,759.11. 
For the last year the amount has been reduced to $11,125,364.13, show- 
ing a decrease of about $2,481,000 in the expenditures as compared with 
the preceding year, and about $3,750,000 as compared with the fiscal year 
1860. The deficiency in the Department for the previous year was 
$4,551,966.98. For the last fiscal year it was reduced to $2,112,814.57. 
These favorable results are in part owing to the cessation of mail service 
in the insurrectionary States, and in part to a careful review of all expen- 
ditures in that department in the interest of economy. The efficiency 
of the postal service, it is believed, has also been much improved. The 
Postmaster-General has also opened a correspondence, through th.e De- 
partment of State, with foreign Governments, proposing a convention ot 
postal representatives for the purpose of simplifying the rates of foreigu 
postage, and to expedite the foreign mails. This proposition, equally im 
portant to our adopted citizens and to the commercial interests of this 
country, lias been favorably entertained and agree*, to by all the Govern- 
ments from whom replies have been received. 



350 The Life, Public Services, and 

I ask the attention of Congress to the suggestions of the Postmaster- 
General in his report respecting the further legislation required, in his 
opinion, for the benefit of the postal service. 

The Secretary of the Interior reports as follows in regard to the public 
lands : — 

The public lands have ceased to be a source of revenue. From the 
1st July, 1861, to the 30th September, 1862, the entire cash receipts from 
the sale of lands were $137,470.26 — a sum much less than the expenses 
of our land system during the same period. The homestead law, which 
will take effect on the 1st of January next, offers such inducements to 
settlers that sales for cash cannot be expected, to an extent sufficient to 
meet the expense of the General Land Office, and the cost of surveying 
and bringing the land into market. 

The discrepancy between the sum here stated as arising from the 
sales of the public lands, and the sum derived from the same source as 
reported from the Treasury Department, arises, as I understand, from 
the fact that the periods of time, though apparently, were not really 
coincident at the beginning-point — the Treasury report including a con- 
siderable sum now which had previously been reported from the inte- 
rior — sufficiently large to greatly overreach the sum derived from the 
three months now reported upon by the Interior, and not by the 
Treasury. 

The Indian tribes upon our frontiers have, during the past year, mani- 
fested a spirit of insubordination, and, at several points, have engaged in 
open hostilities against the white settlements in their vicinity. The 
tribes occupying the Indian country south of Kansas renounced their 
allegiance to the United States, and entered into treaties with the insur- 
gents. Those who remained loyal to the United States were driven from 
the country. The chief of the Cherokees has visited this city for the 
purpose of restoring the former relations of the tribe with the United 
States. He alleges that they were constrained, by superior force, to en- 
ter into treaties with the insurgents, and that the United States neg- 
lected to furnish the protection which their treaty stipulations required. 

In the month of August last, the Sioux Indians in Minnesota attacked 
the settlement in their vicinity with extreme ferocity, killing, indiscrimi- 
nately, men, women, and children. This attack was wholly unexpected, 
and therefore no means of defence had been provided. It is estimated 
that not less than eight hundred persons were killed by the Indians, and 
a large amount of property was destroyed. Ltow this outbreak was in- 
duced is not definitely known, and suspicions, which may be unjust, need 
not be stated. Information was received by the Indian Bureau, from 
different sources, about the time hostilities were commenced, that a si 
inultaneous attack was to be made upon the white settlements by all the 
tribes between the Mississippi River and the Eocky Mountains. The 
State of Minnesota has suffered great injury from this Indian war. A 
large portion of her territory has been depopulated, and a severe loss 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 351 

has been sustained by the destruction of property. The people of that 
State manifest much anxiety for the removal of the tribes beyond the 
limits of the State as a guarantee against future hostilities. The Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs will furnish full details. I submit for your 
especial consideration whether our Indian system shall not be remodelled. 
Many wise and good men have impressed me with the belief that this can 
be profitably done. 

L submit a statement of the proceedings of commissioners, which shows 
the progress that has been made in the enterprise of constructing the 
Pacific Railroad. And this suggests the earliest completion of this road, 
and also the favorable action of Congress upon the projects now pending 
before them for enlarging the capacities of the great canals in New York 
and Illinois, as being of vital and rapidly increasing importance to the 
whole nation, and especially to the vast interior region hereinafter to be 
noticed at some greater length. I purpose having prepared and laid be- 
fore you at an early day some interesting and valuable statistical informa- 
tion upon this subject. The military and commercial importance of 
enlarging the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and improving the Illinois 
River, is presented in the report of Colonel Webster to the Secretary of 
War, and now transmitted to Congress. I respectfully ask attention to it. 

To carry out the provisions of the act of Congress of the 15th of May 
last, I have caused the Department of Agriculture of the United States 
to be organized. 

The Commissioner informs me that within the period of a few months 
this department has established an extensive system of correspondence 
and exchanges, both at home and abroad, which promises to effect highly 
beneficial results in the development of a correct knowledge of recent 
improvements in agriculture, in the introduction of new products, and in 
the collection of the agricultural statistics of the different States. Also, 
that it will soon be prepared to distribute largely seeds, cereals, plants, 
and cuttings, and has already published and liberally diffused much valu- 
able information in anticipation of a more elaborate report, which will in 
due time be furnished, embracing some valuable tests in chemical science 
now in progress in the laboratory. 

The creation of this department was for the more immediate benefit 
of a large class of our most valuable fellow-citizens ; and I trust that the 
liberal basis upon which it has been organized will not only meet your 
approbation, but that it will realize, at no distant day, all the fondest 
anticipations of its most sanguine frieuds, and become the fruitful source 
of advantage to all our people. 

On the 22d day of September last, a proclamation was issued by the 
Executive, a copy of which is herewith submitted. 

In accordance with the purpose expressed in the second paragraph of 
that paper, I now respectfully call your attention to what may be called 
" compensated emancipation." 

A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. 



352 The Life, Public Services, and 

The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. '■ Ono gener- 
ation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth 
forever." It is of the first importance to duly consider and estimate this 
ever-enduring part. That portion of the earth's surface which is owned 
and inhabited by the people of the United States is well adapted to the 
home of one national family, and it is not well adapted for two or more 
Its vast extent, and its variety of climate and productions, are of advan- 
tage in this age for one people, whatever they might have been in former 
ages. Steam, telegraphs, and intelligence have brought these to be an 
advantageous combination for one united people. 

In the Inaugural Address I briefly pointed out the total inadequacy of 
disunion as a remedy for the differences between the people of the two 
sections. I did so in language which I cannot improve, and which, there- 
fore, I beg to repeat : — 

"One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be 
extended; while the other believes it is wrong, and ought not to bo 
extended. This is the only substantial dispute. The fugitive slave clause 
of the Constitution, and the law for the suppression of the foreign slave- 
trade, are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a 
community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the 
' law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation 
in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot bo 
cured; and it would be worse, in both cases, after the separation of the 
sections than before. The foreign slave-trade, now imperfectly suppressed, 
would be ultimately revived without restriction in one section; while 
fugitive slaves, now only partially surrendered, would not be surrendered 
at all by the other. 

"Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our 
respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between 
them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence 
and beyond the reach of each other ; but the different parts of our coun- 
try cannot do this. They cannot but remain face to face; and intercourse, 
either amicable or hostile, must continue between them. Is it possible, 
then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory 
after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends 
can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens 
than laws can among friends? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight 
always ; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, 
you cease righting, the identical old questions, as to terms of intercourse, 
are again upon you." 

There is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a national boundary, 

upon which to divide. Trace through, from east to west, upon the line 

between the free and slave country, and we shall find a little more than 

# one-third of its length are rivers, easy to be crossed, and populated, or 

£ soon to be populated, thickly upon both sides; while nearly all its re 

\ maining length are merely surveyors' lines, over which people may walk 

\ back and forth without any consciousness of their presence. No part of 

I this line can be made any more difficult to pass by writing it down on 

I paper or parchment as a national boundary. The fact of separation, if it 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 353 

comes, gives up, on the part of tlie seceding section, the fugitive slave 
clause, along with all other constitutional obligations upon the section 
Eecoded from, while I should expect no treaty stipulation would ever ho 
made to take its place. 

But there is another difficulty. The great interior region, bounded east 
by the Alleghanies, north by the British dominions, west by the Rocky 
Mountains, and south by the line along which the culture of corn and 
cotton meets, and which includes part of Virginia, part of Tennessee, all 
of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, "Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, 
Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Territories of Dakota, Nebraska, and 
part of Colorado, already has above ten millions of people, and will have 
fifty millions within fifty years, if not prevented by any political folly or 
mistake. It contains more than one-third of the country owned by the 
United States — certainly more than one million of square miles. Onco 
half as populous as Massachusetts already is. it would have more than 
6eventy-five millions of people. A glance at the map shows that, terri- 
torially speaking, it is the great body of the Republic. The other parts 
are but marginal borders to it, the magnificent region sloping west from 
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific being the deepest, and also the richest 
in undeveloped resources. In the production of provisions, grains, grasses, 
and all which proceed from them, this great interior region is naturally 
one of the most important of the world. Ascertain from the statistics the 
small propoition of the region which has as yet been brought into culti- 
vation, and also the large and rapidly increasing amount of its products, 
and we shall be overwhelmed with the magnitude of the prospect pre 
sented. And yet this region has no sea-coast — touches no ocean any- 
where. As part of one nation, its people now find, and may forever find, 
their way to Europe by New York, to South America and Africa by New 
Orleans, and to Asia by San Francisco. But separate our common coun- 
try into two nations, as designed by the present rebellion, and every man 
of this great interior region is thereby cut off from some one or more of 
these outlets, not perhaps by a physical barrier, but By embarrassing and 
onerous trade regulations. 

Aud this is true, wherever a dividing or boundary line may be fixed. 
Place it between the now free and slave country, or place it south of 
Kentucky, or north of Ohio, and still the truth remains that none south 
of it can trade to any port or place north of it, and none north of it can 
trade to any port or place south of it, except upon terms dictated by a 
Government foreign to them. These outlets, east, west, and south, are 
indispensable to the well-being of the people inhabiting and to inhabit 
this vast interior region. Which of the three may be the best is no 
proper question. All are better than either, and all of right belong 
to that people and to their successors forever. True to themselves, 
they will not ask where a line of separation shall be, but will vow 
rather that there shall be no such line. Nor are the marginal regions 
less interested in these communications to and through them to the greut 
23 



i 



I 



354 The Life, Public Services, and 

outside world. They too, and each of them, must have access to this 
Egypt of the West, without paying toll at the crossing of any national 
boundary. 

Our national strife springs not from our permanent part; not from the. 
land we inhabit; not from our national homestead. There is no possible 
severing of this, but would multiply and not mitigate evils among us. In 
all its adaptations and aptitudes it demands union and abhors separation. 
In fact, it would ere long force reunion, however much of blood and 
treasure the separation might have cost. 

Our strife pertains to ourselves — to the passing generations of men; 
and it can, without convulsion, be hushed forever with the passing of one 
generation. 

In this view, I recommend the adoption of the following resolution and 
articles amendatory to the Constitution of the United States : — 

Resolved oy the Senate and Ilonse of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of both Houses con- 
curring). That the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures (or 
Conventions) of the several States as amendments to the Constitution of 
the United States, all or any of which articles, when ratified by three- 
fourths of the said Legislatures (or Conventions), to be valid as part or 
parts of the said Constitution, viz.: — 

Article. — Every State, wherein slavery now exists, which shall abolish 
the same therein at any time or times before the first day of January, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand and nine hundred, shall receive com- 
pensation from the United States as follows, to wit : 

The President of the United States shall deliver to every such State 

bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the rate of per cent. 

per annum, to an amount equal to the aggregate sum of for each 

slave shown to have been therein by the eighth census of the United 
States, said bonds to be delivered to such State by instalments, or in one 
parcel, at the completion of the abolishment, accordingly as the same 
shall hare been gradual, or at one time, within such State; and interest 
shall begin to run upon any such bond only from the proper time of its 
delivery as aforesaid. Any State having received bonds as aforesaid, and 
afterwards reintroducing or tolerating slavery therein, shall refund to the 
United States the bonds so received, or the value thereof, and all interest 
paid thereon. 

Article. — All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual freedom by the 
chances of the war, at any time before the end of the rebellion, shall bo 
forever free; but all owners of such, who shall not have been disloyal, 
shall be compensated for them at the same rates as is provided for States 
adopting abolishment of slavery, but in such way that no slave shall be 
twice accounted for. 

Article. — Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise provide 
for colonizing free colored persons, with their own consent, at any place 
or places without the United States. 

I beg indulgence to discuss these proposed articles at some length. 
Without slavery the rebellion could never have existed ; without slavery 
it could not continue. 

Among the friends of the Union there is great diversity of sen tipcat 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 355 

and of policy in regard to slavery and the African race amonp-st na. 
Some would perpetuate slavery; some would abolish it suddenly, and 
without compensation; some would abolish it gradually, and with com- 
pensation; some would remove the freed people from us, and some 
would retain them with us: and there are yet other minor diversities. 
Because of these diversities we waste much strength among ourselves. 
By mutual concession we should harmonize and act together. This 
would be compromise; but it would be compromise among the friends, 
and not with the enemies of the Union. These articles are intended to 
embody a plan of such mutual concessions. If the plan shall be adopted, 
it is assumed that emancipation will follow in at least several of tho 
States. 

As to the first article, the main points are: first, the emancipation; 
secondly, the length of time for consummating it — thirty-seven years; 
and, thirdly, the compensation. 

The emancipation will be unsatisfactory to the advocates of perpetual 
slavery ; but the length of time should greatly mitigate their dissatisfac- 
tion. The tiiue spares both races from the evils of sudden derangement 
— in fact, from the necessity of any derangement; while most of those 
whose habitual course of thought will be disturbed by the measure will 
have passed away before its consummation. They will never see it. 
Another class will hail the prospect of emancipation, but will deprecate 
the length of time. They will feel that it gives too little to the now liv- 
ing slaves. But it really gives them much. It saves them from the vagraDt 
destitution which must largely attend immediate emancipation in localities 
where their numbers are very great; and it gives the inspiring assurance 
that their posterity shall be free forever. The plan leaves to each State 
choosing to act under it, to abolish slavery now, or at the end of the cen- 
tury, or at any intermediate time, or by degrees, extending over the whole 
or any part of the period; and it obliges no two States to proceed alike. 
It also provides for compensation, and generally the mode of making it. 
This, it would seem, must further mitigate the dissatisfaction of those who 
favor perpetual slavery, and especially of those who are to receive the 
compensation. Doubtless some of those who are to pay and not receive 
will object. Yet the measure is both just and economical. In a certain 
sense the liberation of slaves is the destruction of property — property 
acquired by descent or by purchase, the same as any other property. It 
is no less true for having been often said, that the people of the South are 
not more responsible for the original introduction of this property than 
are the people of the North ; and when it is remembered how unhesitat- 
ingly we all use cotton and sugar, and share the profits of dealing in them, 
it may not be quite safe to say that the South has been more respon- 
sible than the North for its continuance. If, then, for a common object 
this property is to be sacrificed, is it not just that it be done at a common 
charge ? 

And if with less money, or money more easily paid, we can preserve 



356 The Life, Public Services, and 

the benefits of the Union by this means than we can by the war alone, ia 
it not also economical to do it? Let us consider it, then. Let us ascer- 
tain the sum we have expended in the war since compensated emancipation 
was proposed last March, and consider whether, if that measure had been 
promptly accepted by even some of the slave States, the same sum would 
not have done more to close the war than has been otherwise done. If 
so, the measure would save money, and, in that view, would be a prudent 
and economical measure. Certainly it is not so easy to pay something as 
it is pay nothing ; but it is easier to pay a large sum than it is to pay a 
larger one. And it is easier to pay any sum when we are able, than it is 
to pay it before we are able. The war requires large sums, and requires 
them at once. The aggregate sum necessary for compensated emancipa- 
tion of course would be large. But it would require no ready cash, nor 
the bonds even, any faster than the emancipation progresses. This might 
not, and probably would not, close before the end of the thirty-seven 
years. At that time we shall probably have a hundred millions of people 
to share the burden, instead of thirty-one millions, as now. And not only 
so, but the increase of our population may be expected to continue for o 
long time after that period as rapidly as before ; because our territory will 
not have become full. I do no state this inconsiderately. 

At the same ratio of increase which we have maintained, or> an average 
from our first national census, in 1790, until that of 1860, we should, in 
1900, have a population of one hundred and three million two hundred 
and eight thousand four hundred and fifteen. And why may we not con 
tinue that ratio — far beyond that period ? Our abundant room — our broad 
national homestead — is our ample resource. Were our territory as limited 
as are the British Isles, very certainly our population could not expand as 
stated. Instead of receiving the foreign born as now, we should be com- 
pelled to send part of the native born away. But such is not our condi- 
tion. We have two million nine hundred and sixty-three thousand 
square miles. Europe has three million and eight hundred thousand, 
with a population averaging seventy-three and one-third persons to the 
square mile. Why may not oar country at some time average as many? 
Is it less fertile? Has it more waste surface, by mountains, rivers, lakes, 
deserts, or other causes? Is it inferior to Europe in any natural advan- 
tage? If then we are, at some time, to be as populous as Europe, how 
soon ? As to when this maybe, we can judge by the past and the present ; 
as to when it will be, if ever, depends much on whether we maintain the 
Union. Several of onr States are already ahove the average of Europe — ■ 
seventy-three and a third to the square mile. Massachusetts one hundred 
and fifty-seven ; Pihode Island one hundred and thirty-three ; Connecticut 
ninety-nine ; New York and New Jersey, each eighty. Also two other 
great States, Pennsylvania and Ohio, are not far below, the former having 
sixty-three and the latter fifty-nine. The States already above the 
European average, except New York, have increased in as rapid a ratio, 
since passing that point, as ever before ; while no one of them is equal to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 357 

come other parts of our country in natural capacity for sustaining a dense 
population. 

Taking the nation in the aggregate, and we find its population and ratio 
of increase, for the several decennial periods, to he as follows — 

1799 3,929,827 

1800 5,305,937 35.02 per cent, ratio of increase. 

1810 7,239,814 36.45 " " " 

1820 9,038,131 33.13 " " " 

1830 12,800,020 33.49 " " " 

1840 • 17,009,453 32.07 " " " 

1850 23,191,870 35.87 " " " 

I860 31,443,790 35.58 " " " 

This shows an average decennial increase of 34.00 per cent, in popula- 
tion through the seventy years, from our first to our last census yet taken. 
It is seen that the ratio of increase, at no one of these two periods, is 
either two per cent, below or two per cent, ahove the average ; thus show- 
ing how inflexible, and consequently how reliable, the law of increase in 
our case is. Assuming that it will continue, it gives the following re- 
sults : — 

1870 42,323.341 

1880 ,* 50,907,216 

1890 70,077,872 

1900 103,208,415 

1910 138,918,520 

1920 180,984,335 

1930 251,680,914 

These figures show that our country maybe as populous as Europe now 
is at some point between 1920 and 1930 — say about 1925 — our territory, 
at seventy-three and a third persons to the square mile, being of capacity 
to contain two hundred and seventeen million one hundred and eighty- 
six thousand. 

And we will reach this, too, if we do not ourselves relinquish the chance, 
by the folly and evils of disunion, or by long and exhausting wars spring- 
ing from the only great element of national discord among us. "While it 
cannot be foreseen exactly how much one huge example of secession, 
breeding lesser ones indefinitely, would retard population, civilization, and 
prosperity, no one can doubt that the extent of it would be very great and 
injurious. 

The proposed emancipation would shorten the war, perpetuate peace, 
insure this increase of population, and proportionately the wealth of the 
country. "With these we should pay all the emancipation would cost, 
together with our other debt, easier than we should pay our other debt with- 
out it. If we had allowed our old national debt to run at six per cent, per 
annum, simple interest, from the end of our Revolutionary struggle until 
to-day, without paying anything on either principal or interest, each man 
of us would owe less upon that debt now than each man owed upon it 



358 The Life, Public Services, and 

then; and this because our increase of men, through the whole teriod, 
lias been greater tlian six per cent.; has run faster than the interest upon 
the debt. Tims, time alone relieves a debtor nation, so long as its popu- 
lation increases faster than unpaid interest accumulates on its debt. 

This fact would be no excuse for delaying payment of what is justly 
due; but it shows the great importance of time in this connection — the 
great advantage of a policy by which we shall not have to pay until we 
number a hundred millions, what, by a different policy, we wordd have to 
now, when we number but thirty-one millions. In a word, u shows that 
a dollar will be much harder to pay for the war than will be a dollar for the 
emancipation on the proposed plan. And then the latter will cost no 
blood, no precious life. It will be a saving of both. 

As to the second article, I think it would be impracticable to return to 
bondage the class of persons therein contemplated. Some of them, doubt- 
less, in the property sense, belong to loyal owners; and hence provision 
is made in this article for compensating such. 

The third article relates to the future of the freed people. It does not 
oblige, but merely authorizes Congress to aid in colonizing such as may 
consent. This ought not to be regarded as objectionable on the one hand or 
on the other, insomuch as it comes to nothing unless by the mutual con 
sent of the people to be deported, and the American voters, through their 
representatives in Congress. 

I cannot make it better known than it already is, that I strongly favor 
colonization. And yet I wish to say there is an objection urged against 
free colored persons remaining in the country which is largely imaginary, 
if not sometimes malicious. 

It is insisted that their presence would injure and displace white labor 
and white laborers. If there ever could be a proper time for mere catch 
arguments, that time surely is not now. In times like the present men 
should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible 
through time and in eternity. Is it true, then, that colored people can 
displace anymore white labor by being free than by remaining slaves? 
If they stay in their old places, they jostle no white laborers ; if they leave 
their old places, they leave them open to white laborers. Logically, there 
is neither more nor less of it. Emancipation, even without deportation, 
would probably enhance the wages of white labor, and, very surely, would 
not reduce them. Thus the customary amount of labor would still have 
to be performed — the freed people would surely not do more than their 
old proportion of it, and very probably for a time would do less, leaving 
an increased part to white laborers, bringing their labor into greater 
demand, and consequently enhancing the wages of it. With deportation, 
even to a limited extent, enhanced wages to white labor is mathematically 
certain. Labor is like any other commodity in the market — increase the 
demand for it and you increase the price of it. Eeduce the supply of 
black labor, by colonizing the black laborer out of the country, and by 
precisely so much you Increase the demand for and wages of white labor. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 359 

But it is dreaded that the freed people -will swarm forth and coxet the 
whole land! Are they not already in the land? Will liberation make 
them any more numerous? Equally distributed among the whites of the 
whole country, and there would be bat one colored to seven whites. 
Could the one, iu any way, greatly disturb the seven ? There are many 
• communities now having more than one free colored person to seven 
whites ; and this, without any apparent consciousness of evil from it. 
The District of Columbia and the States of Maryland and Delaware are 
all in this condition. The District has more than one free colored to six 
whites; and yet, in its frequent petitions to Congress, I believe it has 
never presented the presence of free colored persons as one of its griev- 
ances. But why should emancipation South send the freed people North? 
People of any color seldom run unless there be something to run from. 
Heretofore colored people to some extent have fled North from bondage ; 
and now, perhaps, from bondage and destitution. But if gradual eman- 
cipation and deportation be adopted, they will have neither to flee from. 
Their old masters will give them wages at least until new laborers can be 
procured, and the freedmen in turn will' gladly give their labor for the 
wages till new homes can be found for the in in congenial climes and with 
people of their own blood and race. This proposition can be trusted on 
the mutual interests involved. And in any event, cannot the North de- 
cide for itself whether to receive them ? 

Again, as practice proves more than theory, in any case, has there been 
any irruption of colored people northward because of the abolishment 
of slavery in this District last spring? 

What I have said of the proportion of free colored persons to the 
whites in the District is from the census of 1860, having no reference to 
persons called contrabands, nor to those made free by the act of Congress 
abolishing slavery here. 

The plan consisting of these articles is recommended, not but that a 
restoration of national authority would be accepted without its adoption. 

Nor will the war, nor proceedings under the proclamation of Septem- 
ber 22, 1862, be stayed because of the recommendation of this plan. Ita 
timely adoption, I doubt not, would bring restoration, and thereby stay 
both. 

And, notwithstanding this plan, the recommendation that Congress 
provide by law for compensating any State which may adopt emancipa- 
tion before this plan shall have been acted upon, is hereby earnestly re- 
newed. Such would be only an advanced part of the plan, and the 9arae 
arguments apply to both. 

This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion of, but addi- 
tional to, all others for restoring and preserving the national authority 
throughout the Union. The subject is presented exclusively in its eco- 
nomical aspect. The plan would, I am confident, secure peace more 
speedily, and maintain it more permanently, than can be done by force 
alone; while all it would cost, considering amounts, and manner of pay 



3G0 The Life, Public Services, and 

merit, and times of payment, would be easier paid than will be the addi- 
tional cost of the war, if we solely rely upon force. It is much — very 
much — that it would cost no blood at all. 

The plan is proposed as permauent constitutional law. It cannot be- 
come such, without the concurrence of, first, two-thirds of Congress, and 
afterwards three-fourths of the States. The requisite three-fourths of the 
States will necessarily include seven of the slave States. Their concur- 
rence, if obtained, will give assurance of their severally adopting eman- 
cipation, at no very distant day, upon the new constitutional terms. This 
assurance would end the struggle now, and save the Union forever. 

I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper addressed 
to the Congress of the nation by the Chief Magistrate of the nation. Nor 
do I forget that some of you are my seniors; nor that many of you have 
more experience than I in the conduct of publie affairs. Yet I trust that, 
in. view of the great responsibility resting upon me, you will perceive no 
want of respect to yourselves in any undue earnestness I may seem to 
display. 

Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, would shorten 
the war, and thus lessen its expenditure of money and of blood? Is it 
doubted that it would restore the national authority and national pros- 
perity, and perpetuate both indefinitely ? Is it doubted that we here — 
Congress and Executive — can secure its adoption ? Will not the good 
people respond to a united and earnest appeal from us? Can we, can 
they, by any other means, so certainly or so speedily assure these vital 
objects? We can succeed only by concert. It is not " Can any of us ima- 
gine better?" but "Can we all do better?" Object whatsoever is possible, 
still the question recurs, " Can we do better?" The dogmas of the quiet 
past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high 
with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, 
bo we must think anew, and act anew. We must disinthrall ourselves, 
and then we shall save our country. 

Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and 
this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No per- 
soual significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The 
fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor 
to the latest generation. We say that we are for the Union. The world 
will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The 
world knows we do know how to save it. We — even we here — hold the 
power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we as- 
sure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what we 
preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. 
Other means may succeed ; this could not, cannot fail. The way is plain, 
peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forever 
applaud, and God must forever bless. Abkaiiam Lincoln. 

Ptcemler 1, 1802. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 361 

At the very outset of the session, resolutions were in- 
troduced by the opponents of the Administration, censur- 
ing, in strong terms, its arrest of individuals in the loyal 
States, suspected of giving, or intending to give, aid and 
comfort to the rebellion. These arrests were denounced 
as utterly unwarranted by the Constitution and laws of 
the United States, and as involving the subversion of the 
public liberties. In the Senate, the general subject was 
discussed in a debate, commencing on the 8th of Decem- 
ber, the opponents of the Administration setting forth 
very fully and very strongly their opinion of the unjusti- 
fiable nature of this action, and its friends vindicating it, 
as made absolutely necessary by the emergencies of the 
case. Every department of the Government, and every 
section of the country, were filled at the outset of the war 
with men actively engaged in doing the work of spies 
and informers for the rebel authorities ; and it was known 
that, in repeated instances, the plans and purposes of the 
Government had been betrayed and defeated by these 
aiders and abettors of treason. It became absolutely 
necessary, not for purposes of punishment, but of preven- 
tion, to arrest these men in the injurious and perhaps 
fatal action they were preparing to take ; and on this 
ground the action of the Government was vindicated and 
justified by the Senate. On the 8th of December, in the 
House of Representatives, a bill was introduced, declaring 
the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus to have been 
required by the public safety ; confirming and declaring 
valid all arrests and imprisonments, by whomsoever 
made or caused to be made, under the authority of the 
President ; and indemnifying the President, secretaries, 
heads of departments, and all persons who have been 
concerned in making such arrests, or in doing or advising 
any such acts, and making void all prosecutions and pro- 
ceedings whatever against them in relation to the matters 
in question. It also authorized the President, during the 
existence of the war, to declare the suspension of the writ 
of habeas corpus, "at such times, and in such places, 
and with regard to such persons, as in Ms judgment the 



362 The Life, Public Services, and 

public safety may require." This bill was passed, receiv- 
ing ninety votes in its favor, and forty -live against it. It 
was taken up in the Senate on the 22d of December, and 
after a discussion of several days, a new bill was substi- 
tuted and passed ; ayes 33, noes 7. This was taken up 
in the House on the 18th of February, and the substitute 
of the Senate was rejected. This led to the appointment 
of a committee of conference, which recommended that 
the Senate recede from its amendments, and that the bill, 
substantially as it came from the House, be passed. This 
report was agreed to after long debate, and the bill thus 
became a law. 

The relations in which the rebel States were placed by 
their acts of secession towards the General Government 
became a topic of discusion in the House of Representa- 
tives, in a debate which arose on the 8th of January, upon 
an item in the Appropriation Bill, limiting the amount to 
be paid to certain commissioners to the amount that might 
be collected from taxes in the insurrectionary States. Mr. 
Stevens, of Pennsylvania, pronounced the opinion that 
the Constitution did not embrace a State that was in arms 
against the Government of the United States. He maintain- 
ed that those States held towards us the position of alien 
enemies — that every obligation existing between them and 
us had been annulled, and that with regard to all the 
Southern States in rebellion, the Constitution has no bind- 
ing force and no application. This position was very 
strongly controverted by men of both parties. Those who 
were not in full sympathy with the Administration opposed 
it, because it denied to the Southern people the protection 
of the Constitution ; while many Republicans regarded it 
as a virtual acknowledgment of the validity and actual 
force of the ordinances of secession passed by the Rebel 
States. Mr. Thomas, of Massachusetts, expressed the 
sentiment of the latter class very clearly when he said 
that one object of the bill under discussion was to impose 
a tax upon States in rebellion — that our only authority 
for so doing was the Constitution of the United States — 
and that we could only do it on the ground that the author- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 363 

ity of the Government over those States is just as valid 
now as it was before the acts of secession were passed, 
and that every one of those acts is utterly null and void. 
No vote was taken which declared directly the opinion 
of the House on the theoretical question thus involved. 

The employment of negroes as soldiers was subjected to 
a vigorous discussion, started on the 27th of January, by 
an amendment offered to a pending bill by Mr. Stevens, 
directing the President to raise, arm, and equip as many 
volunteers of African descent as he might deem useful, 
for such term of service as he might think proper, not 
exceeding live years' — to be officered by white or black 
persons, in the President's discretion — slaves to be accept- 
ed as well as freemen. The members from the Border 
States opposed this proposition with great earnestness, as 
certain to do great harm to the Union cause among their con- 
stituents, by arousing prejudices which, whether reason- 
able or not, were very strong, and against which argument 
would be found utterly unavailing. Mr. Crittenden, of 
Kentucky, objected to it mainly because it would convert 
the war against the rebellion into a servile war, and es- 
tablish abolition as the main end for which the war was 
carried on. Mr. Sedgwick, of New York, vindicated the 
policy suggested, as having been dictated rather by neces- 
sity than choice. He pointed out the various steps by 
which the President, as the responsible head of the Gov- 
ernment, had endeavored to prosecute the war success- 
fully without interfering with slavery, and showed also 
how the refusal of the Rebel States to return to their 
allegiance had compelled him to advance, step by step, 
to the more rigorous and effective policy which had now 
become inevitable. After considerable further discussion, 
the bill, embodying substantially the amendment of Mr. 
Stevens, was passed ; ayes 83, noes 54. On reaching the 
Senate it was referred to the Committee on Militar}^ Affairs, 
which, on the 12th of February, reported against its pas- 
sage, on the ground that the autherity which it was in- 
tended to confer upon the President was already sufficient- 
ly granted in the act of the previous session, approved 



364 The Life, Public Services, and 



July 17, 1S62, which authorized the President to employ, 
in any military or naval service for which they might be 
found competent, persons of African descent. 

One of the most important acts of the session was that 
which provided for the creation of a national force "by 
enrolling and drafting the militia of the whole country — 
each State being required to contribute its quota in the 
ratio of its population, and the whole force, when raised, 
to be under the control of the President. Some measure 
of the kind seemed to have been rendered absolutely ne- 
cessary hy the revival of party spirit throughout the loyal 
States, and by the active and effective efforts made by 
the Democratic party, emboldened by the results of the 
fall elections of 1862, to discourage and prevent volunteer- 
ing. So successful had they been in this work, that the 
Government seemed likely to fail in its efforts to raise 
men for another campaign ; and it was to avert this threat- 
ening evil that the bill in question was brought forward 
for the action of Congress. It encountered a violent resist- 
ance from the opposition party, and especially from those 
members whose sympathies with the secessionists were 
the most distinctly marked. But after the rejection of 
numerous amendments, more or less affecting its character 
and force, it was passed in the Senate, and taken up on 
the 23d of February in the House, where it encountered 
a similar ordeal. It contained various provisions for 
exempting from service persons upon whom others were 
most directly and entirely dependent for support— such as 
the only son of a widow, the only son of aged and infirm 
parents who relied upon him for a maintenance, &c. It 
allowed drafted persons to procure substitutes ; and, to 
cover the cases in which the prices of substitutes might 
become exorbitant, it also provided that upon payment 
of three hundred dollars the Government itself would 
procure a substitute, and release the person drafted from 
service. The bill was passed in the House, with some 
amendments, by a vote of 115 to 49 ; and the amendments 
being concurred in by the Senate, the bill became a law. 

One section of this act required the President to issue 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 365 

a proclamation offering an amnesty to deserters, and he 
accordingly issued it, in the following words : — 

A PROCLAMATION". 

By the President of the United States of America. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, March 10, 1S63. 

In pursuance of the twenty-sixth section of the act of Congress entitled 
"An Act for enrolling and calling out the National Forces, and for other 
purposes," approved on the third of March, in the year one thousand eight 
hundred and sixty-three, I, Abraham Lincoln, President, and commander- 
in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, do hereby order and 
command that all soldiers enlisted or drafted into the service of the United 
States, now absent from their regiments without leave, shall forthwith 
return to their respective regiments ; and I do hereby declare and pro- 
claim that all soldiers now absent from their respective regiments without 
leave, who shall, on or before the first day of April, 1863, report them- 
selves at any rendezvous designated by the General Orders of the War 
Department, No. 58, hereto annexed, may be restored to their respective 
regiments without punishment, except the forfeiture of pay and allow- 
ances during their absence ; and all who do not return within the time 
above specified shall be arrested as deserters, and punished as the law 
provides. 

And whereas evil-disposed and disloyal persons, at sundry places, have 
enticed and procured soldiers to desert and absent themselves from their 
regiments, thereby weakening the strength of the armies, and prolonging 
the war, giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and cruelly exposing the 
gallant and faithful soldiers remaining in the ranks to increased hardships 
and dangers : 

I do therefore call upon all patriotic and faithful citizens to oppose and 
resist the aforementioned dangerous and treasonable crimes, and aid in 
restoring to their regiments all soldiers absent without leave, and assist 
in the execution of the act of Congress for "Enrolling and calling out tho 
National Forces, and for other purposes," and to support the proper 
authorities in the prosecution and punishment of offenders against said 
act, and aid in suppressing the insurrection and the rebellion. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. 

Done at the City of Washington, this tenth day of March, in the year 

of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of 

the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

The finances of the country enlisted a good deal of 
attention during this session. It was necessary to pro- 



3G6 The Life, Public Services, and 

vide in some way for the 'expenses of the war, and also 
for a currency ; and two bills were accordingly introduced 
at an early stage of the session relating to these two sub- 
jects. The Financial Bill, as finally passed by both 
Houses, authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to 
borrow and issue bonds for nine hundred millions of 
dollars, at not more than six per cent, interest, and 
payable at a time not less than ten nor more than forty 
years. It also authorized the Secretary to issue treasury 
notes to the amount of four hundred millions of dollars, 
bearing interest, and also notes not bearing interest to the 
amount of one hundred and fifty millions of dollars. 
While this bill was pending, a joint resolution was 
passed by both Houses, authorizing the issuing of treas- 
ury notes to the amount of one hundred millions of 
dollars, to meet the immediate wants of the soldiers and 
sailors in the service. 

The President announced that he had signed this reso- 
lution, in the following 

MESSAGE. 
To the Senate and House of Representatives : — 

I have signed the joint resolution to provide for the immediate pay- 
ment of the army and navy of the United States, passed by the House 
of Representatives on the 14th, and by the Senate on the loth inst. 
The joint resolution is a simple authority, amounting, however, under the 
existing circumstances, to a direction to the Secretary of the Treasury to 
make an additional issue of one hundred millions of dollars in United 
States notes, if so much money is needed, for the payment of the army 
and navy. My approval is given in order that every possible facility may 
be afforded for the prompt discharge of all arrears of pay due to our sol- 
diers and our sailors. 

While giving this approval, however, I think it my duty to express my 
sincere regret that it has been found necessary to authorize so large an 
additional issue of United States notes, when this circulation, and that of 
the suspended banks together, have become already so redundant as to 
increase prices beyond real values, thereby augmenting the cost of living, 
to the injury of labor, and the cost of supplies — to the injury of the whole 
country. It seems very plain that continued issues of United States notes, 
without any check to the issues of suspended banks, and without adequate 
provision for the raising of money by loans, and for funding the issues, so 
as to keep them within due limits, must soon produce disastrous conse- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 367 

quenees; and tliis matter appears to me so important that I feel bound to 
avail myself of this occasion to ask the special attention of Congress to it. 

That Congress has power to regulate the currency of the country can 
hardly admit of doubt, and that a judicious measure to prevent the dete- 
rioration of this currency, by a reasonable taxation of bank circulation 
or otherwise, is needed, seems equally clear. Independently of this gen- 
eral consideration, it would be unjust to the people at large to exempt 
banks enjoying the special privilege of circulation, from their just propor- 
tion of the public burdens. 

In order to raise money by way of loans most easily and cheaply, it is 
clearly necessary to give every possible support to the public credit. To 
that end, a uniform currency, in which taxes, subscriptions, loans, and all 
other ordinary public dues may be paid, is almost if not quite indispensa- 
ble. Such a currency can be furnished by banking associations authorized 
under a general act of Congress, as suggested in my message at the begin- 
ning of the present session. The securing of this circulation by the pledge 
of the United States bonds, as herein suggested, would still further facili- 
tate loans, by increasing the present and causing a future demand for 
such bonds. 

In view of the actual financial embarrassments of the Government, and 
of the greater embarrassment sure to come if the necessary means of re- 
lief be not afforded, I feel that I should not perform my duty by a simple 
announcement of my approval of the joint resolution, which proposes 
relief only by increasing the circulation, without expressing my earnest 
desire that measures, such in substance as that I have just referred to, may 
receive the early sanction of Congress. By such measures, in my opinion, 
will payment be most certainly secured, not only to the army and navy, 
but to all honest creditors of the Government, and satisfactory provision 

made for future demands on the Treasury. 

Abraiiam Li>.xoln. 

The second bill — that to provide a national currency, 
secured by a pledge of United States stocks, and to provide 
for the circulation and redemption thereof, was passed in 
the Senate — ayes twenty-three, noes twenty-one ; and in 
the House, ayes seventy-eight, noes sixty-four — under 
the twofold conviction that so long as the war continued 
the country must have a large supply of paper money, 
and that it was also highly desirable that this money 
should be national in its character, and rest on the faith 
of the Government as its security. 

Another act of importance, passed by Congress at this 
session, was the admission of West Virginia into the 
Union. The Constitution of the Uuited States declares 



368 The Life, Public Services, and 

that no new State shall be formed within the jurisdiction 
of any State without the consent of the legislature of the 
State concerned, as well as of the Congress. The main 
question on which the admission of the new State turned, 
therefore, was whether that State had been formed with , 
the consent of the Legislature of Virginia. The facts of 
the case were these : In the winter of 1860-61, the Legis- 
lature of Virginia, convened in extra session, had called 
a convention, to be held on the 14th of February, 1S61, 
at Richmond, to decide on the question of secession. A 
vote was also to be taken, when the delegates to this con- 
vention should be elected, to decide whether an ordinance 
of secession, if passed by the convention, should be re- 
ferred back to the people ; and this was decided in the 
affirmative, by a majority of nearly sixty thousand. The 
convention met, and an ordinance of secession was passed, 
and referred to the people, at an election to be held on the 
fourth Tuesday of May. Without waiting for this vote, 
the authorities of the State levied war against the United 
States, joined the Rebel Confederacy, and invited the 
Confederate armies to occupy portions of their territory. 
A convention of nearly live hundred delegates, chosen in 
Western Virginia under a popular call, met early in May, 
declared the ordinance of secession null and void, and 
called another convention of delegates from all the coun- 
ties of Virginia, to be held at Wheeling, on the 11th 
of June, in case the secession ordinance should be rati- 
fied by the popular vote. It was so ratified, and the 
convention met. It proceeded on the assumption that 
the officers of the old Government of the State had va- 
cated their offices by joining the rebellion ; and it ac- 
cordingly proceeded to fill them, and to reorganize the 
Government of the whole State. On the 20th of August 
the convention passed an ordinance to "provide for the 
formation of a new State out of a portion of the territory 
of tliis State." Under that ordinance, delegates were 
elected to a convention which met at Wheeling, November 
26th, and proceeded to draft a Constitution for the State 
of West -Virginia, as the new State was named, which 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. o69 

was submitted to tlie people of West Virginia in April, 
3862, and by tliem ratified — eighteen thousand eight 
hundred and sixty-two voting in favor of it, and five hun- 
dred and fourteen against it. The Legislature of Virginia, 
the members of which were elected by authority of the 
Wheeling Convention of June 11th, met, in extra session, 
called by the Governor appointed by that convention, on 
the 6th of May, 1862, and passed an act giving its consent 
to the formation of the new State, and making application 
to Congress for its admission into the Union. The ques- 
tion to be decided by Congress, therefore, was whether 
the legislature which met at Wheeling on the 11th of June 
was "the Legislature of Virginia," and thus competent 
to give its consent to the formation of a new State within 
the State of Virginia. The bill for admitting it, notwith- 
standing the opposition of several leading and influential 
Republicans, was passed in the House — ayes ninety-six, 
noes fifty-five. It passed in the Senate without debate, 
and was approved by the President on the 31st of Decem- 
ber, 1862, and on the 20th of April, 1863, the President 
issued the following proclamation for the admission of the 
new State : — 

WJiercas, by the act of Congress approved the 31st day of December last, 
the State of West Virginia was declared to be one of the United States of 
America, and was admitted into the Union on an equal footing with tho 
original States in all respects whatever, upon the condition that certain 
changes should be duly made in the proposed Constitution for that State. 
And whereas, proof of a compliance with that condition, as required by 
the second section of the act aforesaid, has been submitted to me : 

Xow, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, do hereby, in pursuance of the act of Congress aforesaid, 
declare and proclaim that the said act shall take effect and be in force 
from and after sixty days from the date hereof. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the Uuited States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twentieth day of April, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
[l. s.] tnree, and of the independence of the United States tho 
eighty-seventh. Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President • 

"William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 
21 



370 The Life, Pullic Services, akd 






A bill was brought forward in the Senate for discussion 
on the 29th of January, proposing a grant of money to aid 
in the abolition of slavery in the State of Missouri. It 
gave rise to a good deal of debate, some Senators doubt- 
ing whether Congress had any constitutional right to make 
such an appropriation, and a marked difference of opinion, 
moreover, growing up as to the propriety of gradual or 
immediate emancipation in that State. Mr. Sumner, Mr. 
Wilson, and several others, insisted that the aid proposed 
should be granted only on condition that emancipation 
should be immediate ; while the Senators from Missouri 
thought that the State would be much more certain to 
provide for getting rid of slavery if the time were ex- 
tended to twenty-three years, as the bill proposed, than 
if she were required to set free all her slaves at once. 
The Senators from the slave States generally opposed the 
measure, on the ground that Congress had no authority 
under the Constitution to appropriate any portion of the 
public money for such a purpose. The bill was linally 
passed in the Senate, but it failed to pass the House. 

Two members of Congress from the State of Louisiana 
were admitted to seats in the House of Representatives 
under circumstances which made that action of consider- 
able importance. Immediately after the occupation of 
New Orleans by the National forces under General But- 
ler, the President had appointed General Shepley military 
governor of the State of Louisiana. The rebel forces 
were driven out from the City of New Orleans, and some 
of the adjoining parishes ; and when, during the ensuing 
summer, the people were invited to resume their allegiance 
to the Government of the United States, over sixty thou- 
sand came forward, took the oath of allegiance, and were 
admitted to their rights as citizens. On the 8d of Decem- 
ber, General Shepley, acting as military governor of the 
State, ordered an election for members of Congress in the 
two districts into which the City of New Orleans is divi 
ded — each district embracing also some of the adjoining 
parishes. In one of these districts, B. F. Flanders was 
elected, receiving two thousand three hundred and seventy 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 371 

votes, and all others two hundred and seventy-three ; and 
in the other, Michael Halm was elected, receiving two 
thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine votes out of five 
thousand one hundred and seventeen, the whole number 
cast. A committee of the House, to which the applica- 
tion of these gentlemen for admission to their seats had 
been referred, reported, on the 9th of February, in favor 
of their claim. It was represented in this report that the 
requirements of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana 
had in all respects been complied with, the only question 
being whether a military governor, apjDointed by the 
President of the United States, could property and right- 
fully perform the functions of the civil governor of the 
State. The committee held that he could, and cited a de- 
cision of the Supreme Court of the United States, not only 
recognizing the power of the President to appoint a mili- 
tary governor, but also recognizing both his civil and 
military functions as of full validity and binding obliga- 
tion. On the other hand, it was maintained that repre- 
sentatives can be elected to the Federal Legislature only 
in pursuance of an act of the State Legislature, or of an 
act of the Federal Congress. In this case neither of these 
requirements had been fulfilled. The House, however, 
admitted both these gentlemen to their seats, by a vote of 
ninety -two to forty-four. 

Before adjourning, Congress passed an act, approved 
on the 3d of March, authorizing the President, ' ' in all 
domestic and foreign wars," to issue to private armed 
vessels of the United States letters of marque and reprisal 
— said authority to terminate at the end of three years 
from the date of the act. Resolutions were also adopted 
in both Houses, protesting against every proposition of 
foreign interference, by proffers of mediation or other- 
wise, as " unreasonable and inadmissible," and declaring 
the "unalterable purpose of the United States to prose- 
cute the war until the rebellion shall be overcome." 
These resolutions, offered by Mr. Sumner, received in the 
Senate thirty-one votes in their favor, while but five 
were cast against them, and in the House one hundred 



B72 The Life, Public Services, and 

and three were given for their passage, and twenty-eight 
against it. 

The session closed on the 4th of March, 1863. Its pro- 
ceedings had been marked by the same thorough and 
fixed determination to carry on the war, by the use of 
the most vigorous and effective measures for the suppres- 
sion of the rebellion, and by the same full and prompt 
support of the' President, which had characterized the 
preceding Congress. 

While some members of the Administration party, 
becoming impatient of the delays which seemed to mark 
the progress of the war, were inclined to censure the 
caution of the President, and to insist upon bolder and 
more sweeping assaults upon the persons and property 
of the people of the Rebel States, and especially upon 
the institution of slavery — and while, on the other hand, 
its more open opywnents denounced every thing like 
severity, as calculated to exasperate the South and pro- 
long the war, the great body of the members, like the 
great body of the people, manifested a steady and firm 
reliance on the patriotic purpose and the calm sagacity 
evinced by the President in his conduct of public affairs. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 373 



CHAPTER XII. 

ARBITRARY ARRESTS.— THE SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF 
HABEAS CORPUS.— THE DRAFT. 

Arbitrary Arrests. — First Suspension of tiie IIabeas Corpus. — Aid 
and Comfort to the Rebels. — Executive Order about Arrests. 
— Appointment of a Commissioner on Arrests. — Opposition to the 
Government. — The Case of Vallandigham. — Governor Seymour 
on Vallandigham. — President Lincoln on Arrests. — President 
Lincoln on Military Arrests. — The President's Letter to Mr. 
Corning. — The President to the Ohio Committee. — The President 
on Vallandigham's Case. — The Habeas Corpus Suspended. — 
Proclamation Concerning Aliens. — The Draft. — The New York 
Riots. — Letter to Governor Seymour. — The Draft Resumed and 
Completed. 

At the very outbreak of the rebellion, the Administra- 
tion was compelled to face one of the most formidable 
of the many difficulties which have embarrassed its 
action. Long before the issue had been distinctly made 
by the rebels in the Southern States, while, under thp 
protecting toleration of Mr. Buchanan's Administration, 
the conspirators were making preparations for armed. 
resistance to the Government of the United States, evi- 
dences were not wanting that they relied upon the active 
co-operation of men and parties in the Northern States, 
whose political sympathies had always been in harmony 
with their principles and their action. As early as in 
Jauuary, 1861, while the rebels were diligently and 
actively collecting arms and other munitions of war, by 
purchase in the Northern States, for the contest on which 
they had resolved, Fernando Wood, then Mayor of New 
York, had apologized to Senator Toombs, of Georgia, for 
the seizure by the police of New York of " arms intended 
for and consigned to the State of Georgia, 1 ' and had 
assured him that "if he had the power, he should sum- 
marily punish the authors of this illegal and unjustifiable 



374 • The Life, Public Services, and 

seizure of private property." The departments at "Wash- 
ington, the army and the navy, all places of responsi- 
bility and trust under the Government, and all depart- 
ments of civil and political activity in the Northern 
States, were found to be largely tilled by persons in 
active sympathy with the secession movement, and ready 
at all times to give it all the aid and comfort in their 
power. Upon the advent of the new Administration, 
and when active measures "began to "be taken for the sup- 
pression of the rebellion, the Government found its plans 
betrayed and its movements thwarted at every turn. 
Prominent presses and politicians, moreover, throughout 
the country, began, by active hostility, to indicate their 
sympathy with those who sought, under cover of oppo- 
sition to the Administration, to overthrow the Govern- 
ment, and it became speedily manifest that there was suf- 
ficient of treasonable sentiment throughout the North to 
paralyze the authorities in their efforts, aided only by the 
ordinary machinery of the law, to crush the secession 
movement. 

Under these circumstances, it was deemed necessary to 
resort to the exercise of the extraordinary powers with 
which, in extraordinary emergencies, the Constitution 
had clothed the Government. That instrument had pro- 
vided that "the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
should not be suspended, unless when, in cases of rebel- 
lion or invasion, the public safety might require it." By 
necessary implication, whenever, in such cases either of 
rebellion or invasion, the public safety did require it, the 
privilege of that writ might be suspended ; and, from 
the very necessity of the case, the Government which 
was charged with the care of the public safety, was em- 
powered to judge when the contingency should occur. 
The only question that remained was, loliicTi department 
of the Government was to meet this responsibility. If 
the act was one of legislation, it could only be performed 
by Congress and the President ; if it was' in its nature 
executive, then it might be performed, the emergency re- 
quiring it, by the President alone. The pressing emer- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 375 

gency of the case, moreover, went far towards dictating the 
decision. Congress had adjourned on the 4th of March, 
and could not be again assembled for some months ; 
and infinite and, perhaps fatal mischief might be done 
daring the interval, if the Northern allies of the rebellion 
were allowed with impunity to prosecute their plans. 

Under the influence of these considerations, the Presi- 
dent, in his proclamation of the 3d of May, 1861, direct- 
ing the commander of the forces of the United States on 
the Florida coast to permit no person to exercise any 
authority upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas, 
and Santa Rosa, which might be inconsistent with the 
authority of the United States, also authorized him, "if 
he should find it necessary, to suspend the writ of habeas 
corpus, and to remove from the vicinity of the United 
States fortresses all dangerous or suspected persons." 
This was the first act of the Administration in that 
direction ; but it was very soon found necessary to resort 
to the exercise of the same powers in other sections of the 
country. On the 2oth of May, John Merryman, a resi- 
dent of Hayfield, in Baltimore County, Maryland, known 
by the Government to be in communication with the 
rebels, and to be giving them aid and comfort, was 
arrested and imprisoned in Fort McHenry, then com- 
manded by General Cadwallader. On the same day he 
forwarded a petition to Roger B. Taney, Chief-Justice of 
the United States, reciting the circumstances of his arrest, 
and praying for the issue of the writ of habeas corpus. 
The writ was forthwith issued, and General Cadwallader 
was ordered to bring the body of Merryman before the 
Chief-Justice on the 27th. On that day Colonel Lee j>re- 
sented a written communication from General Cadwalla- 
der, stating that Merryman had been arrested and com- 
mitted to his custody by officers acting under the author- 
ity of the United States, charged with various acts of 
treason : with holding a commission as lieutenant in a 
company avowing its purpose of armed hostility against 
the Government, and with having made often and unre- 
served declarations of his association with this armev 



376 The Life, Puelio Services, and 

force, and of his readiness to co-operate with those en- 
gaged in the present rebellion against the Government 
of the United States. The General added, that he was 
"duly authorized by the President of the United States 
to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the public 
safety ;" and that, while he fully appreciated the deli- 
cacy of the trust, he was also instructed "that, in times 
of civil strife, errors, if any, should be on the side of 
safety to the country." The commanding General ac- 
cordingly declined to obey the writ, whereupon an 
attachment was forthwith issued against him for con- 
tempt of court, made returnable at noon on the next day. 
On that day, the marshal charged with serving the at- 
tachment made return that he was not admitted within 
the fortress, and had consequently been unable to serve 
the writ. The Chief- Justice, thereupon, read an opinion 
that the President could not suspend the writ of liabeas 
corpus, nor authorize any military officer to do so, and 
that a military officer had no right to arrest any person, 
not subject to the rules and articles of war, for an offence 
against the laws of the United States, except in aid of 
the judicial authority, and subject to its control. The 
Chief Justice stated further, that the marshal had the 
power to summon out the ywsse comitalus to enforce the 
service of the writ, but as it was apparent that it would 
be resisted by a force notoriously superior, the Court 
could do nothing further in the premises. 

On the 12th of May, another writ was issued by Judge 
Giles, of Baltimore, to Major Morris, of the United States 
Artillery, at Fort McHenry, who, in a letter dated the 
14th, refused to obey the writ, because, at the time it was 
issued, and for two weeks previous, the City of Balti- 
more Lad been completely under the control of the rebel 
authorities, United States soldiers had been murdered in 
the streets, the intention to capture that fort had been 
openly proclaimed, and the legislature of the State was 
at that moment debating the question of making war 
upon the Government of the United States. All this, in 
his judgment, constituted a case of rebellion, and afford- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 377 

ed sufficient legal cause for suspending the writ of Jidbeas 
corpus. Similar cases arose, and were disposed of in a 
similar manner, in other sections of the country. 

The Governor of Virginia had proposed to Mr. G-. 
Heincken, of New York, the agent of the New York and 
Virginia Steamship Company, payment for two steamers 
of that line, the Yorktown and Jamestown, which he had 
seized for the rebel service, an acceptance of which proffer, 
Mr. Heincken was informed, would be treated as an act 
of treason to the Government; and on his application, 
Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, gave him the follow 
ing reasons for this decision : — 

An insurrection has broken out in several of the States of this Union, 
including Virginia, designed to overthrow the Government of the United 
States. The executive authorities of that State are parties to that insur- 
rection, and so are public enemies. Their action in seizing or buying 
vessels to be employed in executing that design, is not merely without 
authority of law, but is treason. It is treason for any person to give 
aid and comfort to public enemies. To sell vessels to them which it is 
their purpose to use as ships of war, is to give them aid and comfort. To 
receive money from them in payment for vessels- which they have seized 
for those purposes, would be to attempt to convert the unlawful seizure 
into a sale, and would subject the party so offending to the pains and 
penalties of treason, and the Government would not hesitate to bring the 
offender to punishment. 

These acts and decisions of the Government were vehe- 
mently assailed by the party opponents of the Adminis- 
tration, and led to the most violent and intemperate 
assaults npon the Government in many of the public 
prints. Some of these journals were refused the privi- 
lege of the public mails, the Government not holding 
itself under any obligation to aid in circulating assaults 
upon its own authority, and stringent restrictions were 
placed upon the transmission of intelligence by telegraph. 
On the 5th of July, 1862, Attorney-General Bates trans- 
mitted to the President an elaborate opinion, prepared at 
his request, upon his power to make arrests of pen 
known to have criminal complicity with the insurgents, 
or against whom there is probable cause for suspicion 
of such criminal complicity, and also upon his right to 



378 The Life, Public Services, and 

refuse to obey a writ of Jidbeas corpus in case of such 
arrests. The Attorney- General discussed the subject at 
considerable length, and reached a conclusion favorable 
to the action of the Government. From that time for- 
ward the Government exerted, with vigor and energy, all 
the power thus placed in its hands to prevent the rebel- 
lion from receiving aid from those in sympathy with its 
objects in the Northern States. A large number of 
persons, believed to be in complicity with the insurgents, 
were placed in arrest, but were released upon taking an 
oath of allegiance to the United States Baltimore con- 
tinued for some time to be the head-quarters of conspira- 
cies and movements of various kinds in aid of the rebel- 
lion, .and the arrests were consequently more numerous 
there than elsewhenv Indeed, very strenuous efforts 
were made throughout the summer to induce some action 
on the part of the legislature which would place the State 
in alliance with the Rebel Confederacy, and it was confi- 
dently believed that an ordinance looking to this end 
would be passed at the extra session which was convened 
for the 17th of September ; but on the 16th, nine secession 
members of the House of Delegates, with the officers of 
both houses, were arrested by General McClellan, then 
in command of the army, who expressed his full appro- 
bation of the proceedings, and the session was not held. 

The President at the time gave the following statement 
of his views in regard to these arrests :— 

The public safety renders it necessary that the grounds of these arrests 
should at present be withheld, but at the proper time they will be made 
public. Of one thing the people of Maryland may rest assured, that no 
arrest has been made, or will be made, not based on substantial and un- 
mistakable complicity with those in armed rebellion against the Govern- 
ment of the United States. In no case has an arrest been made on mere 
suspicion, or through personal or partisan animosities ; but in all cases 
the Government is in possession of tangible and unmistakable evidence, 
which will, when made public, be satisfactory to every loyal citizen. 

Arrests continued to be made under authority of the 
State Department, not without complaint, certainly, from 
large numbers of the people, but with the general acqui- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 370 

escence of the whole community, and beyond all question 
greatly to the advantage of the Government and the coun- 
try. On the 14th of February, 1862, an order was issued 
on the subject, which transferred control of the whole 
matter to the War Department. The circumstances which 
had made these arrests necessary are stated with so much 
clearness and force in that order, that we insert it at 
length, as follows : — 

EXECUTIVE OEDEES IN EELA.TION TO STATE PEIS0NEE8. 

Wae Department, Washington, February 14. 

Tne breaking out of a formidable insurrection, based on a conflict of 
political ideas, being an event without precedent in the United States, 
was necessarily attended by great confusion and perplexity of the public 
mind. Disloyalty, before unsuspected, suddenly became bold, and treason 
astonished the world by bringing at once into the field military forces 
superior in numbers to the standing army of the United States. 

Every department of the Government was paralyzed by treason. De- 
fection appeared in the Senate, in the House of Representatives, in the 
Cabinet, in the Federal Courts ; ministers and consuls returned from 
foreign countries to enter the insurrectionary councils, or land or naval 
forces; commanding and other officers of the army and in the navy be- 
trayed the councils or deserted their posts for commands in the insurgent 
forces. Treason was flagrant in the revenue and in the post-office service, 
as well as in the Territorial governments and in the Indian reserves. 

Not only governors, judges, legislators, and ministerial officers in tho 
States, but even whole States, rushed, one after another, with apparent 
unanimity, into rebellion. The Capital was besieged, and its connection 
with all the States cut off. 

Even in the portions of the country which were most loyal, political 
combinations and secret societies were formed, furthering the work ot 
disunion, while, from motives of disloyalty or cupidity, or from excited 
passions or perverted sympathies, individuals were found furnishing men, 
money, and materials of war and supplies to the insurgents' military and 
naval forces. Armies, ships, fortifications, navy yards, arsenals, military 
posts and garrisons, one after another, were betrayed or abandoned to the 
insurgents. 

Congress bad not anticipated and so had not provided for the emergency. 
The municipal authorities were powerless and inactive. The judicial ma- 
chinery seemed as if it had been designed not to sustain the Government, 
but to embarrass and betray it. 

Foreign intervention, openly invited and industriously instigated by the 
abettors of the insurrection, became imminent, and has only been pre- 



380 The Life, Public Services, and 

vented by the practice of strict and impartial justice, with the most perfect 
moderation in our intercourse with nations. 

The public mind was alarmed and apprehensive, though fortunately 
not distracted or disheartened. It seemed to be doubtful whether tho 
Federal Government, which one year before had been thought a model 
worthy of universal acceptance, had indeed the ability to defend and 
maintain itself. 

Some reverses, which perhaps were unavoidable, suffered by newly 
levied and inefficient forces, discouraged the loyal, and gave new hopes 
to the insurgents. Voluntary enlistments seemed about to cease, and 
desertions commenced. Parties speculated upon the question whether 
conscription had not become necessary to fill up the armies of the United 
States. 

In this emergency the President felt it his duty to employ with energy 
the extraordinary powers which the Constitution confides to him in cases 
of insurrection. He called into the field such military and naval forces, 
unauthorized by the existing laws, as seemed necessary. He directed 
measures to prevent the use of the post-office for treasonable correspond- 
ence. He subjected passengers to and from foreign countries to new 
passport regulations, and he instituted a blockade, suspended the writ of 
habeas corpus in various places, and caused persons who were represented 
to him as being or about to engage in disloyal or treasonable practices to 
be arrested by special civil as well as military agencies, and detained in 
military custody, when necessary, to prevent them and deter others from 
such practices. Examinations of such cases were instituted, and some of 
the persons so arrested have been discharged from time to time, under 
circumstances or upon conditions compatible, as was thought, with the 
public safety. 

Meantime a favorable change of public opinion has occurred. The line 
between loyalty and disloyalty is plainly defined; the whole structure of 
the Government is firm and stable; apprehensions of public danger and 
facilities for treasonable practices have diminished with the passions which 
prompted heedless persons to adopt them. The insurrection is believed 
to have culminated and to be declining. 

The President, in view of these facts, and anxious to favor a return 10 
the normal course of the Administration, as far as regard for the public 
welfare will allow, directs that all political prisoners or state prisoners 
now held in military custody, be released on their subscribing to a parole 
engaging them to render no aid or comfort to the enemies in Hostility to 
the United States. 

The Secretary of "War will, however, at his discretion, except from the 
effect of this order any persons detained as spies in the service of the in- 
surgents, or others whose release at the present moment may be deemed 
Incompatible with the public safety. 

To all persons who shall be so released, and who shall keep their parole, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, 381 

the President grants an amnesty for any past offences of treason or dis- 
loyalty which they may have committed. 

Extraordinary arrests will hereafter be made under the direction of the 
military authorities alone. 

By order of the President : 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

On the 27th of the same month, a commission was ap- 
pointed by the War Department, consisting of Major- 
General Dix and Hon. Edwards Pierrepont, of New 
York, to examine into the cases of the state prisoners 
then remaining in custody, and to determine whether, in 
view of the public safety and the existing rebellion, they 
should be discharged, or remain in arrest, or be remitted 
to the civil tribunals for trial. These gentlemen entered 
at once upon the discharge of their duties, and a large 
number of prisoners were released from custody on taking 
the oath of allegiance. Wherever the public safety 
seemed to require it, however, arrests continued to be 
made — the President, in every instance, assuming all the 
responsibility of these acts, and throwing himself upon 
the courts and the judgment of the country for his vindi- 
cation. But the President himself had not up to this time 
directed any general suspension of the writ of habeas 
corpus, or given any public notice of the rules by which 
the Government would be guided in its action upon cases 
that might arise. It was left to the Secretary of War to 
decide in what instances and for what causes arrests should 
be made, and the privilege of the writ should be sus- 
pended. In some of the courts into which these cases 
were brought, the ground was accordingly taken that, 
although the President might have authority under the 
Constitution, when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the 
public safety should require it, to suspend the writ, he 
could not delegate that authority to any subordinate. To 
meet this view, therefore, the President, on the 24th of 
September, 1S62, issued the following 

PROCLAMATION. 

Wltereas, it has been necessary to call into service, not only volunteers, 
but also portions of the militia of the States by draft, in order to suppress 



382 The Life, Public Services, and 

the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are 
not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering 
this measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the in- 
surrection : 

Now, therefore, be it ordered — 

First. That during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure 
for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors, 
within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlist 
ments, resisting military drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording 
aid and comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United States, 
shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and punishment by 
courts-martial or military commission. 

Second. That the writ of habeas corpus -is suspended in respect to all 
persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall 
be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prison, or other place 
of confinement, by any military authority, or by the sentence of any 
court-martial or military commission. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, and caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-fourth day of 
September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hun- 
[l. s.] dred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United 
States the eighty-seventh. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

This proclamation was accompanied by orders from the 
War Department appointing a Provost-Marshal-General, 
whose -head-quarters were to Tbe at Washington, with 
special provost-marshals, one or more in each State, 
charged with the duty of arresting deserters and disloyal 
persons, and of inquiring into treasonable practices 
throughout the country. They were authorized to call 
upon either the civil or military authority for aid in the 
discharge of their duties, and were required to report to 
the department at Washington. The creation of this new 
department had been made necessary by the increased 
activity of the enemies of the Government throughout the 
North, and by the degree of success which had attended 
their efforts. Prompted partly b}^ merely political and 
partisan motives, but in many instances b}' thorough sym- 
pathy with the secession movement, active political lead- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 38b 

ers had set in vigorous motion very extensive machinery 
for the advancement of their designs. ' ' Peace-meetings ' ' 
were held in every section of the Northern States, at which 
the action of the Government was most vehemently as- 
sailed, the objects of the war were misrepresented, and its 
prosecution denounced, and special efforts made to prevent 
enlistments, to promote desertions, and in every way to 
cripple the Government in its efforts to subdue the rebel- 
lion by force of arms. The vigorous action of the Gov- 
ernment, however, in arresting men conspicuous in these 
disloyal practices, had created a salutary reaction in the 
public mind, and had so far relieved the Administration 
from apprehension as to warrant the promulgation of the 
following order : — * 

War Department, "Washington, Kovemter 22, 1862. 
Ordered — 1. That all persons now in military custody, who have been 
arrested for discouraging volunteer enlistments, opposing the draft, or for 
otherwise giving aid and comfort to the enemy, in States where the draft 
has been made, or the quota of volunteers and militia has been furnished, 
shall be discharged from further military restraint. 

2. The persons who, by the authority of the military commander or 
governor in rebel States, have been arrested and sent from such State for 
disloyalty or hostility to the Government of the United States, and are 
now in military custody, may also be discharged upon giving their parole 
to do no act of hostility against the Government of the United States, nor 
render aid to its enemies. But all such persons shall remain subject to 
military su rveillar.ee and liable to arrest on breach of their parole. And 
if any such persons shall prefer to leave the loyal States on condition of 
their not returning again during the war, or until special leave for that 
purpose be obtained from the President, then such persons shall, at his 
option, he released and depart from the United States, or be conveyed 
beyond the military lines of the United States forces. 

3. This order shall not operate to discharge any person who has been in 
arms against the Government, or by force and arms has resisted or at- 
tended to resist the draft, nor relieve any person from liability to trial 
and punishment by civil tribunals, or hy court-martial or military commis- 
sion, who may he amenable to such tribunals for offences committed. 

By order of the Secretary of War : 

E. D. Towxsend, Assistant Adjutant-General. 
\ 

During the succeeding winter, while Congress was in 
session, public sentiment was comparatively at rest on this 



384 The Life, Public Services, and 

subject. Congress had enacted a law, sanctioning the 
action of the President in suspending the writ of habeas 
corpus, and clothing him with full authority to check and 
punish all attempts to defeat the efforts of the Government 
in the prosecution of the war. After the adjournment, 
however, when the political activity of the country was 
transferred from the Capital to the people in their respec- 
tive localities, the party agitation was revived, and public 
meetings were again held to denounce the conduct of the 
Government, and to protest against the further prosecu- 
tion of the war. One of the most active of these advo- 
cates of peace with the Rebel Confederacy was Hon. C. L. 
Yallandigham, a member of Congress from Ohio, who had 
steadily opposed all measures for the prosecution of the 
war throughout the session. After the adjournment he 
made a political canvass of his district, and in a speech at 
Mount Vernon, on the 1st of May, he denounced the Gov- 
ernment at Washington as aiming, in the conduct of the 
war, not to restore the Union, but to crush out liberty and 
establish a despotism. He declared that the war was 
waged for the freedom of the blacks and the enslaving of 
the whites — that the Government could have had peace 
long before if it had desired it — that the mediation of 
France ought to have been accepted, and that the Govern- 
ment had deliberately rejected propositions by which the 
Southern States could have been brought back to the 
Union. He also denounced an order, No. 38, issued by 
General Burnside, in command of the department, forbid- 
ding certain disloyal practices, and giving notice that per- 
sons declaring sympathy for the enemy would be arrested 
for trial, proclaimed his intention to disobey it, and called 
on the people who heard him to resist and defeat its exe- 
cution. 

For this speech Mr. Yallandigham was arrested, by order 
of General Burnside, on the 4th of May, and ordered for 
trial before a court-martial at Cincinnati. On the 5th, he 
applied, through his counsel, Senator Pugh, to the Circuit 
Court of the United States for a writ of habeas corpus. 
In reply to this application, a letter was read from Gen- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 385 

eral Burnside, setting forth the considerations which had 
led him to make the arrest, and Vallandigham' s counsel 
was then heard in a very long argument on the case. 
Judge Stewart pronounced his decision, refusing the writ, 
on the ground that the action of General Burnside was 
necessary for the public safety. " The legality of the ar- 
rest," said the judge, " depends upon the extent of the 
necessity for making it, and that was to "be determined "by 
the military commander." And he adds — 

Men should know and lay^the truth to heart, that there is a course of 
conduct not involving overt treason, and not therefore subject to punish- 
ment as such, which, nevertheless, implies moral guilt, and a gross offence 
against the country. Those who live under the protection and enjoy the 
blessings of our benignant Government, must learn that they cannot stab 
its vitals with impunity. If they cherish hatred and hostility to it, and 
'■desire its subversion, let them withdraw from its jurisdiction, and seek the 
fellowship and protection of those with whom they are in sympathy. If 
they remain with us, while they are not of us, they must be subject to 
such a course of dealing as the great law of self-preservation prescribes 
and will enforce. And let them not complain if the stringent doctrine of 
military necessity should find them to be the legitimate subjects of its 
action. I have no fear that the recognition of this doctrine will lead to 
an arbitrary invasion of the personal security, or personal liberty, of the 
citizen. It is rare indeed that a charge of disloyalty will be made on 
insufficient grounds. But if there should be an occasional mistake, such 
an occurrence is not to be put in competition with the preservation of the 
nation ; and I confess I am but little moved by the eloquent appeals of 
those who, while they indignantly denounce violation of personal liberty, 
look with no horror upon a despotism as unmitigated as the world has 
ever witnessed. 

The military commission, before which Yallandigham 
was ordered for trial, met on the 6th, found him guilty of 
the principal offences charged, and sentenced him to be 
placed in close confinement in some fortress of the United 
States, to be designated by the commanding officer of that 
department. Major -Gen eral Burnside approved the sen- 
tence, and designated Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor, as 
the place of confinement. The President modified thi3 
sentence by directing that, instead of being imprisoned, 
Mr. Vallandigham should be sent within the rebel lines, 
and should not return to the United States until after the 

25 



«■» 



38G The Life, Public Services, and 

termination of the war. This sentence was at once carried 
into execution. 

The arrest, trial, and sentence of Mr. Vallandigha?u 
created a good deal of excitement throughout the country. 
The opponents of the Administration treated it as a case 
of martyrdom, and held public meetings for the purpose 
of denouncing the action of the Government as tyrannical 
and highiy dangerous to the public liberties. One of the 
earliest of these demonstrations was held at Albany, N. Y., 
on the 16th of May, at which Hon. Erastus Corning pre- ) 
sided, and to which Governor Seymour addressed a letter, ,.•' J } 
expressing in the strongest terms his condemnation of the 
course pursued by the Government. " If this proceed- ,./*• 
ing," said he, speaking of the arrest of Vallandigham, "is .*-. 
approved by the Government, and sanctioned by the *. 
people, it is not merely a step towards revolution — it is . / 
revolution. It will not only lead to military despotism — ■ ) < % 
it establishes military despotism. In this aspect it must ' j 
be accepted, or in this aspect rejected. * * * The 
people of this country now wait with the deepest anxiety 
the decision of the Administration upon these acts. Hav- 
ing given it a generous support in the conduct of the war, » 
we pause to see what kind of a government it is for which 
we are asked to pour out our blood and our treasure. 
The action of the Administration will determine, in the 
minds of more than one-half of the people of the loyal 
States, whether this war is waged to put down rebellion 
at the South, or destroy free institutions at the North." 
The resolutions which were adopted at this meeting 
pledged the Democratic party of the State to the preser- 
vation of the Union, but condemned in strong terms the 
whole system of arbitrary arrests, and the suspension of 
the writ of habeas corpus. 

A copy of these resolutions was forwarded by the pre- 
siding officer to President Lincoln, who sent the follow- 
ing letter in reply : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Jlme 13, 1863. 
Hon. Erastus Corning and others : 

Gentlemen: — Your letter of May 19, enclosing the resolutions of a pub- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 387 

lie meeting held at Albany, N". Y., on the 10th of the same month, was 
received several days ago. 

The resolutions, as I understand them, are resolvable into two proposi- 
tions : first, the expression of a purpose to sustain the cause of the Union,- 
to secure peace through victory, and to support the Administration in 
every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the rebellion; and, 
secondly, a declaration of censure upon the Administration for supposed 
unconstitutional action, such as the making of military arrests. And from 
the two propositions a third is deduced, which is, that the gentlemen 
composing the meeting are resolved on doing their part to maintain our 
common Government and country, despite the folly or wickedness, as 
they may conceive, of any Administration. This position is eminently 
patriotic, and as such I thank the meeting and congratulate the nation for 
it. My own purpose is the same, so that the meeting and nryself have a 
common object, and can have no difference, except in the choice of means 
or measures for effecting that object. 

And here I ought to close this paper, and would close it, if there were 
no apprehension that more injurious consequences than any merely per- 
sonal to myself might follow the censures systematically cast upon me for 
doing what, in my view of duty, I could not forbear. The resolutions 
promise to support me in every constitutional and lawful measure to sup- 
press the rebellion, and I have not knowingly employed, nor shall know- 
ingly employ any other. But the meeting, by their resolutions, assert 
and argue that certain military arrests, and proceedings following them, 
for which I am ultimately responsible, are unconstitutional. I think they 
are not. The resolutions quote from the Constitution the definition of 
treason, and also the limiting safeguards and guarantees therein provided 
for the citizen on trial for treason, and on his being held to answer for 
capital, or otherwise infamous crimes, and, in criminal prosecutions, his 
right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. They proceed to 
resolve " that these safeguards of the rights of the citizen against the 
pretensions of arbitrary power were intended more especially for his pro- 
tection in times of civil commotion." 

And, apparently to demonstrate the proposition, the resolutions pro- 
ceed : "They were secured substantially to the English people after years 
of protracted civil war, and were adopted into our Constitution at the 
close of the Revolution." "Would not the demonstration have been better 
if it could have been truly said that these safeguards had been adopted 
and applied during the civil wars and during our Revolution, instead of 
after the one and at the close of the other? I, too, am devotedly for them 
after civil war, and before civil war, and at all times, " except when, in 
cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require " their sus- 
pension. The resolutions proceed to tell us that these safeguards "have 
stood the test of seventy-six years of trial, under our republican system, 
under circumstances which show that, while they constitute the founda- 



388 The Life, Public Services, and 

tion of ay free government, they are the elements of the enduring sta- 
bility of the Bepublic." No one denies that they have so stood the test 
up to the beginning of the present rebellion, if we except a certain occur- 
rence at New Orleans ; nor does any one question that they will stand 
the same test much longer after the rebellion closes. But these provisions 
of the Constitution have no application to the case we have in band, be- 
cause the arrests complained of were not made for treason — that is, not 
for the treason denned in the Constitution, and upon conviction of which 
the punishment is death — nor yet were they made to hold persons 
to answer for any capital or otherwise infamous crimes ; nor were the 
proceedings following, in any constitutional or legal sense, " criminal 
prosecutions." The arrests were made on totally different grounds, and 
the proceedings following accorded with the grounds of the arrest. Let 
us consider the real case with which we are dealing, and apply to it the 
parts of the Constitution plainly made for such cases. 

' Prior to my installation here, it had been inculcated that any State had 
a lawful right to secede from the National Union, and that it would be 
expedient to exercise the right whenever the devotees of the doctrine 
should fail to elect a President to their own liking. I was elected con- 
trary to their liking, and accordingly, so far as it was legally possible, 
they had taken seven States out of the Union, had seized many of the 
United States forts, and had fired upon the United States flag, all before 
I was inaugurated, and, of course, before I had done any official act what- 
ever. The rebellion thus began soon ran into the present civil war ; 
and, in certain respects, it began on very unequal terms between the par- 
ties. The insurgents had been preparing for it more than thirty years, 
while the Government had taken no steps to resist them. The former 
had carefully considered all the means which could be turned to their 
account. It undoubtedly was a well-pondered reliance with them that, 
in their own unrestricted efforts to destroy Union, Constitution, and law 
altogether, the Government would, in great degree, be restrained by the 
same Constitution and law from arresting their progress. Their sympa- 
thizers pervaded all departments of the Government, and nearly all com- 
munities of the people. From this material, under cover of " liberty of 
6peech," "liberty of the press," and "habeas corpus," they hoped to 
keep on foot among us a most efficient corps of spies, informers, suppliers, 
and aiders and abettors of their cause in a thousand ways. They knew 
that in times such as they were inaugurating, by the Constitution itself 
the "habeas corpus" might be suspended; but they also knew they had 
friends who would make a question as to who was to suspend it : mean- 
while, their spies and others might remain at large to help on their cause. 
Or if, as has happened, the Executive should suspend the writ, without 
ruinous waste of time, instances of arresting inpocent persons might occur, 
as are always likely to occur in such cases, and then a clamor could be 
raised in regard to this which might be, at least, of some service to the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 389 

insurgent cause. It needed no very keen perception to discover this part 
of the enemy's programme, so soon as, by opening hostilities, their ma- 
chinery was put fairly in motion. Yet, thoroughly imbued with a rev- 
erence for the guaranteed rights -J mdividuals, I was slow to adopt the 
strong measures which by degrees I have been forced to regard as being 
within the exceptions of the Constitution, and as indispensable to the 
public safety. Nothing is better known to history than that courts of 
justice are utterly incompetent to such cases. Civil courts are organized 
chiefly for trials of individuals, or, at most, a few individuals acting in 
concert, and this in quiet times, and on charges of crimes well defined in 
the law. Even in times of peace, bands of horse-thieves and robbers fre- 
quently grow too numerous and powerful for the ordinary courts of jus- 
tice. But what comparison, in numbers, have such bands ever borne to 
the insurgent sympathizers even in many of the loyal States? Again, a 
jury too frequently has at least one member more ready to hang the 
panel than to hang the traitor. And yet, again, he who dissuades one 
man from volunteering, or induces one soldier to desert, weakens the 
Union cause as much as he who kills a Union soldier in battle. Yet this 
dissuasion or inducement may be so conducted as to be no defined crime 
of which any civil court would take cognizance. 

Ours is a case of rebellion — so called by the resolution before me — in 
fact, a clear, flagrant, and gigantic case of rebellion ; and the provision 
of the Constitution that " the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall 
not be suspended unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the pub- 
lic safety may require it," is the provision which specially applies to our 
present case. This provision plainly attests the understanding of those 
who made the Constitution, that ordinary courts of justice are inadequate 
to "cases of rebellion" — attests their purpose that, in such cases, men 
may be held in custody whom the courts, acting on ordinary rules, would 
discharge. Habeas corpus does not discharge men who are proved to be 
guilty of defined crime ; and its suspension is allowed by the Constitu- 
tion on purpose that men maybe arrested and held who cannot be proved 
to be guilty of defined crime, " when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, 
the public safety may require it." This is precisely our present case — -a 
case of rebellion, wherein the public safety does require the suspension. 
Indeed, arrests by process of courts, and arrests in cases of rebellion, do > 
not proceed altogether upon the same basis. The former is directed at 
the small percentage of ordinary and continuous perpetration of crime; 
while the latter is directed at sudden and extensive uprisings against the 
Government, which at most will succeed or fail in no great length of 
time. In the latter case arrests are made, not so much for what has 
been done as for what probably would be done. The latter is more for 
the preventive and less for the vindictive than the former. In such cases 
the purposes of men are much more easily understood than in cases of 
ordinary crime. The man who stands by and says nothing, when the 



390 The Life, Public Services, and 

peril of his Government is discussed, cannot be misunderstood. If not 
hindered, he is sure to help the enemy; much more, if he talks ambigu- 
ously — talks for his country with "huts," and "ifs," and "ands." Of 
how little value the constitutional provisions I have quoted will be r en« 
dered, if arrests shall never be made until defined crimes shall have beea 
committed, may be illustrated by a few notable examples. General John 
C. Breckinridge, General Robert E. Eee, General Joseph E. Johnston, 
General John 13. Magruder, General William 13. Preston, General Simon 
B. Buckner, and Commodore Franklin Buchanan, now occupying the very 
highest places in the rebel war service, were all within the power of the 
Government since the rebellion began, and were nearly as well known to 
be traitors then as now. Unquestionably, if we had seized and held 
them, the insurgent cause would be much weaker. But no one of them 
had then committed any crime defined in the law. Every one of them, 
if arrested, would have been discharged on haoeas corpus, were the writ 
allowed to operate. In view of these and similar cases, I think the time 
not unlikely to come when I shall be blamed for having made too few 
arrests rather than too many. 

By the third resolution, the meeting indicate their opinion that military 
arrests may be constitutional in localities where rebellion actually exists, 
but that such arrests are unconstitutional in localities where rebellion oi 
insurrection does not actually exist. They insist that such arrests shall 
not be made " outside of the lines of necessary military occupation and 
the scenes of insurrection." Inasmuch, however, as the Constitution itself 
makes no such distinction, I am unable to believe that there is any such 
constitutional distinction. I concede that the class of arrests complained 
of can be constitutional only when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the 
public safety may require them ; and I insist that in such cases they are 
constitutional icherever the public safety does require them ; as well in 
places to which they may prevent the rebellion extending as in those 
where it maybe already prevailing; as well where they may restrain mis- 
chievous interference with the raising and supplying of armies to sup- 
press the rebellion, as where the rebellion may actually be ; as well 
where they may restrain the enticing men out of the army, as where 
they would prevent mutiny in the army; equally constitutional at all 
places where they will conduce to the public safety, as against the dan- 
gers of rebellion or invasion. Take the particular case mentioned by the 
meeting. It is asserted, in substance, that Mr. Vallandigham was, by a 
military commander, seized and tried "for no other reason than words 
addressed to a public meeting, in criticism of the course of the Admin- 
istration, and in condemnation of the military orders of the general." 
Now, if there be no mistake about this; if this assertion is the truth and 
the whole truth ; if there was no other reason for the arrest, then I con- 
cede that the arrest was wrong. But the arrest, as I understand, was 
made for a very different reason. Mr. Vallandigham avows his .hostility to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 391 

the war on the part of the Union; and his arrest was made because ho 
was laboring, with some effect, to prevent the raising of troops; to en- 
courage desertions from the army ; and to leave tbe rebellion without 
an adequate military force to suppress it. He was not arrested because 
he was damaging the political prospects of the Administration, or tbe per- 
sonal interests of the commanding general, but because be was damaging 
tbe army, upon the existence and vigor of which the life of tbe nation 
depends. He was warring upon the military, and this gave tbe military 
constitutional jurisdiction to lay hands upon him. If Mr. Vallandigham 
was not damaging the military power of the country, then this arrest 
was made on mistake of fact, which I would be glad to correct on rea- 
sonable satisfactory evidence. 

I understand the meeting, whose resolutions I am considering, to be in 
favor of suppressing the rebellion by military force — by armies. Long 
experience has shown tbat armies cannot be maintained unless desertions 
shall be punished by the severe penalty of death. The case requires, and 
the law and the Constitution sanction, this punishment. Must I shoot a 
simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of 
a wily agitator who induces him to desert? This is none the less injuri- 
ous when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend, into a public 
meeting, and there working upon his feelings till he is persuaded to 
write the soldier boy that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked 
Administration of a contemptible Government, too weak to arrest and 
punish him if be shall desert. I think that in such a case to silence the 
agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but withal a great 
mercy. 

If I be wrong on this question of constitutional power, my error lies 
in believing that certain proceedings are constitutional when, in cases of 
rebellion or invasion, the public safety requires them, which would not 
be constitutional when, in tbe absence of rebellion or invasion, the pub- 
lic safety does not require them ; in other words, that the Constitution is 
not, in its application, in all respects the same, in cases of rebellion or 
invasion involving the public safety, as it is in time of profound peace 
and public security. The Constitution itself makes the distinction ; and 
I can no more be persuaded that tbe Government can constitutionally 
take no strong measures in time of rebellion, because it can be shown 
that the same could not be lawfully taken in time of peace, than I can 
be persuaded that a particular drug is not good medicine for a sick man, 
because it can be shown not to be good food for a well one. Nor am I able 
to appreciate the danger apprehended by the meeting that the Amer- 
ican people will, by means of military arrests during the rebellion, lose 
the right of public discussion, the liberty of speech and the press, the 
law of evidence, trial by jury, and habeas corpus, throughout the indefi- 
nite peaceful future, which I trust lies before them, any more than I am 
able to believe that a man could contract so strong an appetite for emetics 



392 The Life, Public Services, and 

during temporary illness as to persist in feeding upon them during tho 
remainder of his healthful life. • 

In giving the resolutions that earnest consideration which you request 
of me, I cannot overlook the fact that the meeting speak as "Demo- 
crats." Nor can I, with full respect for their known intelligence, and 
the fairly presumed deliberation with which they prepared their reso- 
lutions, be permitted to suppose that this occurred by accident, or in 
any way other than that they preferred to designate themselves " Dem- 
ocrats" rather than "American citizens." In this time of national 
peril, I would have preferred to meet you on a level one step higher than 
any party platform; because I am- sure that, from such more elevated 
position, we could do better battle for the country we all love than wo 
possibly can from those lower ones where, from the force of habit, the 
prejudices of the past, and selfish hopes of the future, we are sure to ex- 
pend much of our ingenuity and strength in finding fault with and aiming 
blows at each other. But, since you have denied me this, I will yet bo 
thankful, for the country's sake, that not all Democrats have done so. 
lie on whose discretionary judgment Mr. Vallandigham was arrested and 
tried is a Democrat, having no old party affinity with me; and the judgo 
who rejected the constitutional view expressed in these resolutions, by 
refusing to discharge Air. Vallandigham on habeas corpus, is a Democrat 
of better days than these, having received his judicial mantfe at the hands 
of President Jackson. And still more, of all those Democrats who aro 
nobly exposing their lives and shedding their blood on the battle-field, I 
have learned that many approve the course taken with Mr. Vallandig- 
ham, while I have not heard of a single one condemning it. I cannot 
assert that there are none such. And the name of Jackson recalls an 
incident of pertinent history : After the battle of New Orleans, and while 
the fact that the treaty of peace had been concluded was well known in 
the city, but before official knowledge of it had arrived, General Jackson 
still maintained martial or military law. Now that it could be said the 
war was over, the clamor against martial law, which had existed from 
the first, grew more furious. Among other things, a Mr. Louiallier pub- 
lished a denunciatory newspaper article. General Jackson arrested him. 
A lawyer by the name of Morrel procured the United States Judge Hall 
to issue a writ of habeas corpus to relive Mr. I ' jiallier. General Jack- 
son arrested both the lawyer and the judge. A Mr. Hollander ventured 
to say of some part of the matter that "it was a dirty trick." General 
Jackson arrested him. When the officer undertook to serve the writ of 
habeas corpus, General Jackson took it from him, and sent him away 
with a copy. Holding the judge in custody a few days, the General 
sent him beyond the limits of his encampment, and set him at liberty, 
with an order to remain till the ratification of peace should be regularly 
announced, or until the British should have left the Southern coast. A 
day or two more elapsed the ratification of a treaty of peace was rogu- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 393 

larly announced, and the judge and others were fully liberated. A few 
days more, and the judge called General Jackson into court and fined him 
$1,000 for having arrested him and the others named. The General paid 
the fine, and there the matter rested for nearly thirty years, when Con- 
gress refunded principal and interest. The late Senator Douglas, then in 
the House of Representatives, took a leading part in th% debates, in 
which the constitutional question was much discussed. I am not pre- 
pared to say whom the journals would show to have voted for the measure. 

It may be remarked : First, that we had the same Constitution then as 
now ; secondly, that we then had a case of invasion, and now we have a 
case of rebellion ; and, thirdly, that the permanent right of the people to 
public discussion, the liberty of speech and of the press, the trial by jury, 
the law of evidence, and the habeas corpus, suffered no detriment what- 
ever by that conduct of General Jackson, or its subsequent approval by 
the American Congress. 

And yet, let me say that, in my own discretion, I do not know whether 
I would have ordered the arrest of Mr. Vallandigham. While I cannot 
shift the responsibility from myself, I hold that, as a general rule, the 
commander in the field is the better judge of the necessity in any partic- 
ular case. Of course, I must practise a general directory and revisory 
power in the matter. 

One of the resolutions expresses the opinion of the meeting that arbi- 
trary arrests will have the effect to divide and distract those who should 
he united in suppressing the rebellion, and I am specifically called on to 
discharge Mr. Vallandigham. I regard this as, at least, a fair appeal to 
me on the expediency of exercising a constitutional power which I think 
exists. In response to such appeal, I have to say, it gave me pain when 
I learned that Mr. Vallandigham had been arrested — that is, I was pained 
that there should have seemed to be a necessity for arresting him — and 
that it will afford me great pleasure to discharge him so soon as I can, by 
any means, believe the public safety will not suffer by it. I further say 
that, as the war progresses, it appears to me, opinion and action, which 
were in great confusion at first, take shape and fall into more regular 
channels, so that the necessity for strong dealing with them gradually 
decreases. I have every reason to desire that it should cease altogether; 
and far from the least is my regard for the opinions and wishes of those 
who, like the meeting at Albany, declare their purpose to sustain the 
Government in every constitutional and lawful measure to suppress the 
rebellion. Still, I must continue to do so much as may seem to be re- 
quired by the public safety. A. Lincoln. 

Similar meetings were held in New York, Philadelphia, 
and other cities and towns of the North, and, on the 11th 
of June, a State Convention of the Democratic party was 
held at Columbus, Ohio, for the nomination of State ofli- 



394 The Life, Public Services, and 

cers. Mr. Vallandigham was, at that convention, made 
the Democratic candidate for Governor, receiving, on the 
first ballot, four hundred and forty-eight votes out of four 
hundred and sixty-one, the whole number cast. Senator 
Pugh was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor, and reso- 
lutions were adopted protesting against President Lin- 
coln's emancipation proclamation; condemning martial 
law in loyal' States, where war does not exist ; denoun- 
cing the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus ; protest- 
ing very strongly against the banishment of Vallandig- 
ham, and calling on the President to restore him to his 
rights ; declaring that they would hail with delight the 
desire of the seceded States to return to their allegiance, 
and that they would co-operate with the citizens of those 
States in measures for the restoration of peace. 

A committee of the convention visited Washington, 
and on the 26th of June presented to the President the 
resolutions adopted by the convention, and urged the 
immediate recall and restoration of Mr. Vallandigham, 
their candidate for Governor. To this, President Lincoln 
made the following reply : — 

"Washington, June 29, 1SGS. 

Gentlemen : — The resolutions of the Ohio Democratic State Conven- 
tion, which you present me, together with your introductory and closing 
remarks, being in position and argument mainly the same as the resolu- 
tions of the Democratic meeting at Albany, New York, I refer you to my 
response to the latter as meeting most of the points in the former. 

This response you evidently used in preparing your remarks, and I de- 
sire no more than that it be used with accuracy. In a single reading of your 
remarks, I only discovered one inaccuracy in matter which I suppose you 
took from that paper. It is where you say, "The undersigned are unable 
to agree with you in the opinion you have expressed that the Constitu- 
tion is different in time of insurrection or invasion from what it is in time 
of peace and public security." 

A recurrence to the paper will show you that I have not expressed 
the opinion you suppose. I expressed the opinion that the Constitution 
is different in its application in cases of rebellion or invasion, involving 
the public safety, from what it is in times of profound peace and publio 
security ; and this opinion I adhere to, simply because by the Constitu- 
tion itself things may be done in the one case which may not be done in 
the other. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 395 

I dislike to waste a word on a merely personal point, but I must re- 
spectfully assure you that you will find yourselves at fault should you 
ever seek for evidence to prove your assumption that I " opposed in 
discussions before the people the policy of the Mexican war.' 1 

You say: "Expunge from the Constitution this limitation upon the 
power of Congress to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and yet the 
other guarantees of personal liberty would remain unchanged." Doubt- 
less, if this clause of the Constitution, improperly called, as I think, a 
limitation upon the power of Congress, were expunged, the other guar- 
antees would remain the same; but the question is, not how those guar- 
antees would stand with that clause out of the Constitution, but how they 
stand with that clause remaining in it, in case of rebellion or invasion, 
involving the public safety. If the liberty could be indulged in expun- 
ging that clause, letter and spirit, Ireally think the constitutional argu- 
ment would be with you. 

My general view on this question was stated in the Albany response, 
and hence I do not state it now. I only add that, as seems to me, the 
benefit of the writ of habeas corpus is the great means through which 
the guarantees of personal liberty are conserved and made available in 
the last resort ; and corroborative of this view is the fact that Mr. Val- 
landigham, in the very case in question, under the advice of able law- 
yers, saw not where else to go but to the habeas corpus. But by the 
Constitution the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus itself may be sus- 
pended, when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may 
require it. 

You ask, in substance, whether I really claim that I may override all 
the guaranteed rights of individuals, on the plea of conserving the public 
safety — when I may choose to say the public safety requires it. This 
question, divested of the phraseology calculated to represent mo as 
struggling for an arbitrary personal prerogative, is either simply a 
question who shall decide, or an affirmation that nobody shall decide, 
what the public safety does require in cases of rebellion or invasion. 
The Constitution contemplates the question as likely to occur for de- 
cision, but it does not expressly declare who is to decide it. By neces- 
sary implication, when rebellion or invasion comes, the decision is to be 
made from time to time ; and I think the man whom, for the time, the 
people have, under the Constitution, made the commander-in-chief of 
their army and navy, is the man who holds the power and bears the 
responsibility of making it. If he uses the power justly, the same 
people will probably justify him; if he abuses it, he is in their hands to 
be dealt with by all the modes they have reserved to themselves in the 
Constitution. 

The earnestness with which you insist that persons can only, in times 
of rebellion, be lawfully dealt with in accordance with the rules for 
criminal trials and punishments in times of peace, induces me to add a 



396 The Life, Public Services, and 

word to what T said on that point in the Albany response. You claim 
that men may, if they choose, embarrass those whose duty it is to com- 
bat a giant rebellion, and then be dealt with only in turn as if there 
were no rebellion. The Constitution itself rejects this view. The mili- 
tary arrests and detentions which have been made, including those of 
Mr. Vallandigham, which are not different in principle from the other, 
have been for prevention, and not for punishment — as injunctions to stay 
injury, as proceedings to keep the peace — and hence, like proceedings in 
such cases and for like reasons, they have not been accompanied with 
indictments, or trial by juries, nor in a single case by any punishment 
whatever beyond what is purely incidental to the prevention. The 
original sentence of imprisonment in Mr. Vallandigham's case was to 
prevent injury to the military service only, and the modification of it 
was made as a less disagreeable mode to him of securing the same pre- 
vention. 

I am unable to perceive an insult to Ohio in the case of Mr. Vallan- 
digham. Quite surely nothing of this sort was or is intended. I was 
wholly unaware that Mr. Vallandigham was, at the time of his arrest, a 
candidate for the Democratic nomination of Governor, until so informed 
by your reading to me the resolutions of the convention. I am grateful 
to the State of Ohio for many things, especially for the brave soldiers 
and officers she has given in the present national trial to the armies of 
the Union. 

You claim, as I understand, that according to my own position in the 
Albany response, Mr. Vallandigham should be released ; and this be- 
cause, as you claim, he has not damaged the military service by discour- 
aging enlistments, encouraging desertions, or otherwise; and that if ho 
had, he should have been turned over to the civil authorities under tbo 
recent acts of Congress. I certainly do not know that Mr. Vallandigham 
has specifically and by direct language advised against enlistments and 
in favor of desertions and resistance to drafting. We all know tha 
combinations, armed in some instances, to reoist the arrest of deserters, 
began several months ago ; that more recently the like has appeared in 
resistance to the enrolment preparatory to a draft; and that quite a 
number of assassinations have occurred from the same animus. These 
had to be met by military force, and this again has led to bloodshed and 
death. And now, under a sense of responsibility more weighty and 
enduring than any which is merely official, I solemnly declare my belief 
that this hindrance of the military, including maiming and murder, is due 
to the cause in which Mr. Vallandigham has been engaged, in a greater 
degree than to any other cause; and it is due to him personally in a 
greater degree than to any other man. 

These things have been notorious, known to all, and of course known 
to Mr. Vallandigham. Perhaps I would not be wrong to say they 
originated with his especial friends and adherents. "With perfect knowl- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 397 

edge of them, he has frequently, if not constantly, made speeches in 
Congress and before popular assemblies; and if it can be shown that, 
with these things staring him in the face, he has ever uttered a word of 
rebuke or counsel against them, it will be a fact greatly in his favc 
with me, and of which, as yet, I am totally ignorant. When it is known 
that the whole burden of his speeches has been to stir up men against the 
prosecution of the war, and that in the midst of resistance to it he has 
not been known in any instance to counsel against such resistance, it is 
next to impossible to repel the inference that he ha? counselled directly 
in favor of it. 

With all this before their eyes, the convention you represent have 
nominated Mr. Vallandigham for Governor of Ohio, and both they and 
you have declared the purpose to sustain the National Union by all con- 
stitutional means; but, of course, they and you; in common, reserve to 
yourselves to decide what are constitutional means, and, unlike the 
Albany meeting, you omit to state or intimate that, in your opinion, an 
army is a constitutional means of saving the Union against a rebellion, 
or even to intimate that you are conscious of an existing rebellion being 
in progress with the avowed object of destroying that very Union. At 
the same time, your nominee for Governor, in whose behalf you appeal, 
is known to you, and to the world, to declare against the use of an army 
to suppress the rebellion. Your own attitude, therefore, encourages 
desertion, resistance to the draft, and the like, because it teaches those 
wiio incline to desert and to escape the draft to believe it is your pur- 
pose to protect them, and to hope that you will become strong enough to 
do so. 

After a short personal intercourse with you, gentlemen of the com- 
mittee, I cannot say I think you desire this effect to follow your attitude; 
but I assure you that both friends and enemies of the Union look upon it 
in this light. It is a substantial hope, and, by consequence, a real 
strength to the enemy. If it is a false hope, and one which you would 
willingly dispel, I will make the way exceedingly easy. I send you 
duplicates of this letter, in order that you, or a majority, may, if you 
choose, indorse your names upon one of them, and return it thus indorsed 
to mef with the understanding that those signing are thereby committed 
to the following propositions, and to nothing else : — 

1. That there is now rebellion in the United States, the object and 
tendency of which is to destroy the National Union; and that, in your 
opinion, an army and navy are constitutional means for suppressing that 
rebellion. 

2. That no one of you will do any thing which, in his own judgment, 
will tend to hinder the increase, or favor the decrease, or lessen the 
efficiency of the army and navy, while engaged in the effort to suppress 
that rebellion ; and, — 

3. That each of you will, in his sphere, do all he can to have tha 



398 The Life, Public Services, and 

officers, soldiers, and seamen of the army and navy, while engaged in the 
effort to suppress the rebellion, paid, fed, clad, and otherwise well pro- 
vided for and supported. 

And with the further understanding that upon receiving the letter 
and names thus indorsed, I will cause them to be published, which 
publication shall be, within itself, a revocation of the order in relation to 
Mr. Vallandigham. 

It will not escape observation that I consent to the release of Mr. 
Vallandigham upon terms not embracing any pledge from him or from 
others as to what he will or will not do. I do this because he is not 
present to speak for himself, or to authorize others to speak for him ; 
and hence I shall expect that on returning he would not put himself 
practically in antagonism with the position of his friends. But I do it 
chiefly because I thereby prevail on other influential gentlemen of Ohio 
to so define their position as to be of immense value to the army — thus 
more than compensating for the consequences of any mistake in allowing 
Mr. Vallandigham to return, so that, on the whole, the public safety will 
not have suffered by it. Still, in regard to Mr. Vallandigham and all 
others, I must hereafter, as heretofore, do so much as the public service 
may seem to require. 

I have the honor to be respectfully yours, &c, 

A. Lincoln. 

The canvass throughout the summer was very animated. 
As a matter of course, the opponents of the Administration 
in Ohio, as elsewhere throughout the country, made this 
matter of arbitrary arrests a very prominent point of attack. 
Special stress was laid upon the fact that, instead of acting 
directly and upon his own responsibility in these cases, 
the President left them to the discretion of military com- 
manders in the several departments. This was held to be 
in violation of the law of Congress which authorized the 
President to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, but not 
to delegate that high prerogative. To meet this objection, 
therefore, and also in order to establish a uniform mode 
of action on the subject, the President issued the following 

PROCLAMATION". 

Whereas, the Constitution of the United States has ordained that " The 
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless, 
when in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may roquire it ; 
.and, whereas, a rebellion was existing on the 3d day of March, 18(53, which 
rebellion is still existing; and, whereas, by a statute which was approved 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 399 

on that Lay, it was enacted by the Senate and LTouse of Representatives 
of the United States, in Congress assembled, that during the present in- 
surrection the President of the United States, whenever, in his judgment, 
the public safety may require, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the 
writ of hiheas corpus in any case throughout the United States, or any 
part thereof; and, whereas, in the judgment of the President the public 
safety does require that the privilege of the said writ shall now be sus- 
pended throughout the United States in cases where, by the authority of 
the President of the United States, military, naval, and civil officers of the 
United States, or any of them, hold persons under their command or in 
their custody, either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the 
enemy, or officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled, drafted, or mustered, or 
enlisted in, or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, 
or as deserters therefrom, or otherwise amenable to military law, or to 
the rules and articles of war, or the rules and regulations prescribed for the 
military or naval services by the authority of the President of the United 
States, or for resisting the draft, or for any other offence against the military 
or naval service: Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
Uuited States, do hereby proclaim and make known to all whom it may con- 
cern, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended throughout 
the United States in the several cases before mentioned, and that this sus- 
pension will continue throughout the duration of the said rebellion, or 
until this Proclamation shall, by a subsequent one, to be issued by the 
President of the United States, be modified and revoked. And I do here- 
by require all magistrates, attorneys, and other civil officers within 
the United States, and all officers and others in the military and naval 
services of the United States, to take distinct notice of this suspension and 
give it full effect, and all citizens of the United States to conduct and 
govern themselves accordingly, and in conformity with the Constitution 
of the United States and the laws of Congress in such cases made and 
provided. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed, this fifteenth day of September, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the 
independence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth. 

Abkaiiam Lixcolx. 
By the President : 

Wm. II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

The act passed by Congress " for enrolling and calling 
out the national forces," commonly called the Conscrip- 
tion Act, provided that all able-bodied male citizens, and 
persons of foreign birth who had declared their intention 
to become citizens, between the ages of twenty and forty- 
five, were liable to be called into service. The strenuous 



400 TnE Life, Public Services, and 

efforts made by the enemies of the Administration to arouse 
the hostility of the people against its general policy, had 
proved so far successful as greatly to discourage volun- 
teer enlistments ; and the Government was thus compelled 
to resort to the extraordinary powers conferred upon it 
"by this act. Questions had been raised as to the liability 
of foreigners to be drafted under this law ; and in order 
to settle this point, the President, on the 8th of May, issued 
the following proclamation. 

■Washington, May 8, 1S63. 

By the President of the United States of America. 
PROCLAMATION". 

Whereas, the Congress of the United States, at its last session, enacted 
a law, entitled " An Act for enrolling and calling out the national forces, 
and for other purposes," which was approved on the 3d day of March 
last; and 

Whereas, it is recited in the said act that there now exists in the United 
States an insurrection and rebellion against the authority thereof, and it 
is, under the Constitution of the United States, the duty of the Govern- 
ment to suppress insubordination and rebellion, to guarantee to each State 
a republican form of government, and to preserve the public tranquillity ; 
and 

Whereas, for these high purposes, a military force is indispensable, to 
raise and support which all persons ought willingly to contribute ; and 

Whereas, no service can be more praiseworthy and honorable than 
that which is rendered for the maintenance of the Constitution and the 
Union, and the consecment preservation of free government ; and 

Whereas, for the reasons thus recited it was enacted by the said stat- 
ute that all able-bodied male citizens of the United States, and persons 
of foreign birth who shall have declared on oath their intentions to become 
citizens under and in pursuance of the laws thereof, between the ages of 
twenty and forty-five years, with certain exemptions not necessary to be 
here mentioned, are declared to constitute the National forces, and shall 
be liable to perform military duty in the service of the United States, 
when called out by the President for that purpose ; and 

Whereas, it is claimed, on and in behalf of persons of foreign birth, with- 
in the ages specified in said act, who have heretofore declared on oath their 
intentions to become citizens under and in pursuance to the laws of the 
United States, and who have not exercised the right of suffraga, or any 
other political franchise under the laws of the United States, or ot any of 
the States thereof, that they are not absolutely precluded by their afore- 
said declaration of intention from renouncing their purpose to become 
citizens; and that, on the contrary, such persons, under treaties and the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 401 

law of nations, retain a right to renounce that purpose, and to forego 
the privilege of citizenship and residence within the United States, under 
the obligations imposed by the aforesaid act of Congress : 

Now, therefore, to avoid all misapprehensions concerning the liability of 
persons concerned to perform the service required by such enactment, and 
to give it full effect, I do hereby order and proclaim that no plea of alien- 
age will be received, or allowed to exempt from the obligations imposed 
by the aforesaid act of Congress any person of foreign birth who shall 
have declared on oath his intention to become a citizen of the United 
States, under the laws thereof, and who shall be found within the United 
States at any time during the continuance of the present insurrection and 
rebellion, at or after the expiration of the period of sixty-five days from the 
date of this proclamation; nor shall any such plea of alienage be allowed 
in favor of any such person who has so, as aforesaid, declared his inten- 
tion to become a citizen of the United States, and shall have exercised at 
any time the right of suffrage, or any other political franchise within the 
United States, under the laws thereof, or under the laws of any of the 
several States. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this 8th day of May, in the year of our 
r t Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the in- 

[ L. S.J ° .. J ' 

dependence of the United States the eighty-seventn. 

Abkaiiaji Lincoln'. 
By the President : 

William II. Seward, Secretary of Slate. 

It was subsequently ordered that the draft should take 
place in July, and public proclamation was made of the 
number which each State would be required to furnish. 
Enrolling officers had been appointed for the several dis- 
tricts of all the States, and, all the names being placed in 
a wheel, the number required were to be publicly drawn, 
under such regulations as were considered necessary to 
insure equal and exact justice. Very great pains had 
been taken by the opponents of the Administration to excite 
odium against that clause of the law which fixed the price 
of exemption from service under the draft at three hundred 
dollars. It was represented that this clause was for the 
special benefit of the rich, who could easily pay the sum 
required ; while poor men who could not pay it would be 
compelled, at whatever hardships to themselves and their 
families, to enter the army. The draft was commenced in 
26 



402 The Life, Public Services, and 

the City of New York on Saturday, July 11th, and was 
conducted quietly and successfully during that day. On 
Sunday plots were formed and combinations entered into 
to resist it ; and no sooner was it resumed on Monday 
morning, July 13, than a sudden and formidable attack 
was made by an armed mob upon the office in one of the 
districts ; the wheel was destroyed, the lists scattered, and 
the building set on fire. The excitement spread through 
the city. Crowds gathered everywhere, with no apparent 
common object ; but during the day the movement seem- 
ed to be controlled by leaders in two general directions. 
The first was an attack upon the negroes ; the second an 
assault upon every one who was supposed to be in any 
way concerned in the draft, or prominently identified, 
officially or otherwise, with the Administration or the Re- 
publican party. Unfortunately, the militia regiments of 
the city had been sent to Pennsylvania to withstand the 
rebel invasion ; and the only guardians left for the public 
peace were the regular police and a few hundred soldiers 
who garrisoned the forts. Both behaved with the greatest 
vigor and fidelity, but they were too few to protect the 
dozen miles between the extremities of the city. The mob, 
dispersed in one quarter, would reassemble at another, 
and for four days the city seemed given up to their control. 
The outrages committed during this time were numerous 
and aggravated. Negroes were assaulted, beaten to death, 
mutilated, and hung ; building after building was sacked 
and burned ; gangs of desperadoes patrolled the streets, 
levying contributions, and ordering places of business to 
be closed. A Colored Orphan Asylum, sheltering some 
hundreds of children, was sacked and burned. After 
the first day, the riot, which was at first directed against 
the draft, took a new turn. The entire mass of scoundrel- 
ism in the city seemed to have been let loose for indis- 
criminate plunder. Women, half-grown boys, and chil- 
dren, were foremost in the work of robbery, and no man 
felt safe from attack. The police force did their duty 
manfully, aided at first by the few troops at the disposal 
of the authorities, and subsequently by the regiments who 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 403 

began to return from Pennsylvania. In tlie street-fights 
which occurred, many of the defenders of law and order 
lost their lives, while a far larger number of the rioters 
were killed. The bands of rioters were finally dispersed, 
and the peace of the city was restored. 

During these occurrences the draft was necessarily sus- 
pended ; and on the 3d of August, Governor Seymour 
addressed a long letter to the President, asking that fur- 
ther proceedings under the draft might be postponed until 
it should be seen whether the number required from the 
State of New York could not be raised by volunteering, 
and also until the constitutionality of the law could be 
tested in the judicial tribunals of the country. The 
Governor pointed out an alleged injustice in the applica- 
tion of the law, by which, in four districts of the State of 
New York, a far higher quota in proportion to the popu- 
lation was required than in the other districts of the State ; 
and this was urged as an additional reason for postponing 
the further execution of the law. 

To this appeal the President, on the 7th of August, 
made the following reply : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, August T, 1803. 
His Excellency Horatio Seymour, 

Governor of New York, Albany, N. Y. : 

Your communication of the 3d inst. has been received and attentively 
considered. I cannot consent to suspend the draft in New York, as you 
request, because, among other reasons, time is too important. By the 
figures you send, which I presume are correct, the twelve districts repre- 
sented fall in two classes of eight and four respectively. 

The disparity of the quotas for the draft in these two classes is certainly 
very striking, being the difference between an average of 2,200 in ono 
class, anc 4,804 in the otber. Assuming that the districts are equal, one 
to another, in entire population, as required by the plan on which they 
were made, this disparity is such as to require attention. Much of it, 
however, I suppose will be accounted for by the fact that so many more 
persons fit for soldiers are in the city than are in the country, who have 
too recently arrived from other parts of the United States and from Europe 
to be either included in the census of 1860, or to have voted in 18C2. 
Still, making due allowance for this, I am yet unwilling to stand upon it 
as an entirely sufficient explanation of the great disparity. I shall direct 



404 The Life, Public Services, and 

the draft to proceed in all the districts, drawing, however, at first from 
each of the four districts — to wit, the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Eighth — 
only, 2,200 being the average quota of the other class. After this drawing, 
these four districts, and also the Seventeenth and Twenty-ninth, shall he 
carefully re-enrolled ; and, if you please, agents of yours may witness 
every step of the process. Any deficiency which may appear hy the new 
enrolment will be supplied by a special draft for that object, allowing due 
credit for volunteers who may be obtained from these districts respectively 
during the interval ; and at all points, so far as consistent with practical 
convenience, due credits shall be given for volunteers, and your Excel- 
lency shall be notified of the time fixed for commencing a draft in each 
district. 

I do not object to abide a decision of the United States Supreme Court, 
or of the Judges thereof, on the constitutionality of the draft law. In 
fact, I should be willing to facilitate the obtaining of it. But I cannot 
consent to lose the time while it is being obtained. We are contending 
with an enemy who, as I understand, drives every able-bodied man he 
can reach into his ranks, very much as a butcher drives bullocks into a 
slaughter-pen. No time is wasted, no argument is used. This produces 
an army which will soon turn upon our now victorious soldiers already in 
the field, if they shall not be sustained by recruits as they should be. It 
produces an army with a rapidity not to be matched on our side, if we first 
waste time to re-experiment with the volunteer system, already deemed 
by Congress, and palpably, in fact, so far exhausted as to be inadequate ; 
and then more time to obtain a Court decision as to whether a law is con- 
etitutional which requires a part of those not now in the service to go to 
the aid of those who are already in it ; and still more time to determine 
with absolute certainty that we get those who are to go in the precisely 
legal proportion to those who are not to go. My purpose is to be in my 
action just and constitutional, and yet practical, in performing the impor- 
tant duty with which I am charged, of maintaining the unity and the free 
principles of our common country. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 

On the 8th Governor Seymour replied, reasserting the 
unfairness and injustice of the enrolments, and expressing 
his regret at the President' s refusal to postpone the draft. 
He also sent a voluminous statement, prepared by Judge- 
Advocate Waterbury, designed to sustain the position he 
had previously assumed. To this the President thus re- 
plied : — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 405 



Executive Mansion, 'Wasiungtox, August 11, 1SG3. 
His Excellency IIoratio Seymour, 

Governor of New York: 

Yours of the 8th, with Judge- Advocate General Waterbury's report, 
was received to-day. 

Asking you to remember that I consider time as being very important, 
both to the general cause of tlie country and to the soldiers in the field, I 
beg to remind you that I waited, at your request, from the 1st until the 
6th inst., to receive your communication dated the 3d. In view of its 
great length, and the known time and apparent care taken in its prepara- 
tion, I did not doubt that it contained your fall case as you desired to 
present it. It contained the figures for twelve districts, omitting the 
other nineteen, as I suppose, because you found nothing to complain of as 
to them. I answered accordingly. In doing so I laid down the principle 
to which I purpose adhering, which is to proceed with the draft, at the 
earne time employing infallible means to avoid any great wrong. "With 
the communication received to-day you send figures for twenty-eight dis- 
tricts, including the twelve sent before, and still omitting three, for which 
I suppose the enrolments are not yet received. In looking over the faller 
list of twenty-eight districts, I find that the quotas for sixteen of them are 
above 2,000 and below 2,700, while, of the rest, six are above 2,700 and 
six are below 2,000. Applying the principle to these new facts, the Fifth 
and Seventh Districts must be added to the four in which the quotas have 
already been reduced to 2,200 for the first draft; and with these four 
others must be added to those to be re-enrolled. The correct case will 
then stand : the quotas of the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and 
Eighth Districts fixed at 2,200 for the first draft. The Provost-Marshal 
General informs me that the drawing is already completed in the Six 
teenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth, Twenty- 
sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirtieth Dis- 
tricts. In the others, except the three outstanding, the drawing will bo 
made upon the quotas as now fixed. After the first draft, the Second, 
Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Twenty- 
first, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-ninth, and Thirty- first will be enrolled for the 
purpose, and in the manner stated in my letter of the 7th inst. The same 
principle will be applied to the now outstanding districts when they" shall 
come in. No part of my former letter is repudiated by reason of not 
being restated in this, or for any other cause. 

Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln - . 

The draft in New York was resumed on the 19th of Au- 
gust, and as ample preparations had been made for the 
preservation of the public peace, it encountered no further 



406 The Life, Public Services, and 

opposition. In every other part of the country the pro- 
ceedings were conducted and completed without resist- 
ance. 

Some difficulty was experienced in Chicago, and the 
Mayor and Comptroller of that city addressed the Presi- 
dent on the subject of alleged frauds in the enrolment, 
and received the following dispatch in reply : — 

Washington, August 27, 1863. 
F. 0. SnERMAN, Mayor; J. S. ITats, Comptroller: 

Yours of the 24th, in relation to the draft, is received. It seems to me 
the Government here will he overwhelmed if it undertakes to conduct 
these matters with the authorities of cities and counties. They must be 
conducted with the Governors of States, who will, of course, represent 
their cities and counties. Meanwhile, you need not be uneasy until you 
again hear from here. . A. Lincoln. 

Subsequently, in reply to further representations on the 
subject, the same gentlemen received the following : — 

"Washington, September 7, 1S63. 

Tours of August 29th just received. I suppose it was intended by Con- 
gress that this Government should execute the act in question without 
dependence upon any other Government, State, City, or County. It is, 
however, within the range of practical convenier.ce to confer with the 
Governments of States, while it is quite beyond that range to have cor- 
respondence on the subject with counties and cities. They are too nu- 
merous. As instances, I have corresponded with Governor Seymour, but 
not with Mayor Opdyke; with Governor Curtin, but not with Mayor 
Henry. A. Lincoln. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 407 



CHAPTER XIII. 



' MILITARY EVENTS OF 18G3.— THE REBEL DEFEAT AT GETTYS- 
BURG.— FALL OF YICKSBURG AND PORT HUDSON. 

TnK Battles at Fredericksburg. — Rebel Raid into Pennsylyania. — 
Results at Gettysburg. — Vicksburg and Port Hudson Captcred. — 
Public Rejoicings. — The President's Speecii. — Thanksgiying fob 
Victories.— Battle of Chattanooga. — Thanksgiying Proclamation. 

The military events of 1863, though of very great im- 
portance, are much less closely connected with the direct 
action of the President than those which occurred in 
1862 ; we shall not attempt, therefore, to narrate them as 
much in detail. When General Burnside succeeded Gen- 
eral McClellan in command of the Army of the Potomac, 
on the 7th of November, 1862, that army was at Warren- 
ton, the rebel forces falling back before it towards Rich- 
mond. Deeming it impossible to force the enemy to a 
decisive battle, and unsafe to follow him to Richmond on 
a line which must make it very difficult to keep up his 
communications, General Burnside, on the 15th, turned 
his army towards Fredericksburg — marching on the north 
bank of the Rappahannock, intending to cross the river, 
take possession of Fredericksburg, and march upon Rich- 
mond from that point. The advance division, under Gen- 
eral Sumner, arrived opposite Fredericksburg on the 
19th ; but a pontoon train, which had been ordered and 
was expected to be there at the same time, had not come 
— so that crossing at the moment was impossible. The 
delay that thus became unavoidable enabled General Lee 
to bring up a strong force from the rebel army, and possess 
himself of the heights of Fredericksburg. On the night 
of the 10th of December, General Burnside threw a bridge 
of pontoons across the river, and the next day constructed 
four bridges, under cover of a terrific bombardment of 
the town. On the 11th and 12th his army was crossed 
over, and on the 13th attacked the enemy — General Sum- 



408 The Life, Public Services, and 

ner commanding in front, and General Franklin haying 
command of a powerful flanking movement against the 
rebel right. The rebels, however, were too strongly post- 
ed to be dislodged. Our forces suffered severely, and 
were unable to advance. On the night of the 15th, they 
were therefore withdrawn to the opposite bank of the 
river. Our losses in this engagement were one thousand 
one hundred and thirty-eight killed, nine thousand one 
hundred and five wounded, two thousand and seventy- 
eight missing ; total, twelve thousand three hundred and 
twenty-one. 

The army remained quiet until the 20th of January, 
when General Burnside again issued orders for an ad- 
vance, intending to cross the river some six or eight miles 
Above Fredericksburg, and make a flank attack upon the 
left wing of the rebel army. The whole army was moved 
to the place of crossing early in the morning, but a heavy 
storm on the preceding night had so damaged the roads 
as to make it impossible to bring up artillery and pontoons 
with the promptness essential to success. On the 24th, 
General Burnside was relieved from command of the 
Army of the Potomac, and General Hooker appointed in 
his place. Three months were passed in inaction, the 
season forbidding any movement ; but on the 27th of 
April, General Hooker pushed three divisions of his army 
to Kelley' s Ford, twenty-five miles above Fredericksburg, 
and by the 30th had crossed the river, and turning south, 
had reached Chancellorsville — five or six miles southwest 
of that town. A strong cavalry force, under General 
Stoneman, had been sent to cut the railroad in the rear of 
the rebel army, so as to prevent their receiving re-enforce- 
ments from Richmond — General Hooker's design being 
to attack the enemy in flank and rear. The other divi- 
sions of his army had crossed and joined his main force 
at Chancellorsville, General Sedgwick, with one division 
only, being left opposite Fredericksburg. On the 2d of 
May, the left wing of the rebel army, under General Jack- 
son, attacked our right, and gained a decided advantage 
of position, which was recovered, however, before the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 409 

day closed. The action was renewed next day, and the 
advantage remained with the enemy. General Sedgwick, 
meantime, had crossed the river and occupied the heights 
of Fredericksburg, but was driven from them and com- 
pelled to retreat on the night of the 4th. On the morning 
of the 5th a heavy rain-storm set in, and in the night of 
that day General Hooker withdrew his army to the north 
bank of the Rappahannock, having lost not far from 
eighteen thousand men in the movement. 

Both armies remained inactive until the 9th of June, 
when it was discovered that the rebel forces under Lee were 
leaving their position near Fredericksburg and moving 
northwest, through the valley of the Shenandoah. On 
the 13th the rebel General Ewell, with a heavy force, at- 
tacked our advance post of seven thousand men at Win- 
chester under General Milroy, and not only compelled 
him to retreat, but pursued him so closely as to convert 
his retreat into a rout ; and on the 14th of June the rebel 
army began to cross the Potomac and advanced upon 
Hagerstown, Maryland, with the evident purpose of in- 
vading Pennsylvania. The movement created the most 
intense excitement throughout the country. President 
Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for one hundred 
thousand militia from the States most directly menaced, 
to serve for six months, and New York was summoned 
to send twenty thousand also. On the 27th the main body 
of the rebel army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, 
and General Lee took up his head-quarters at HagerstoAvn. 

Meantime, as soon as the movement of the rebel forces 
from Fredericksburg was discovered, our army had broken 
up its encampment and marched northward, on a line 
nearly parallel with that of the enemy, and on the 27th, 
the same day that the rebels reached Hagerstown, the 
head-quarters of our army were at Frederick City — our 
whole force being thus interposed between the rebels and 
both Baltimore and Washington, and prepared to follow 
them into Pennsylvania. On that day General Hooker 
was relieved from command of the army, which was con- 
ferred upon General Meade, who at once ordered an ad- 



410 The Life, Public Services, akd 

vance into Pennsylvania in the general direction of Har- 
risburg — towards which the enemy was rapidly advancing 
in force. On the 1st of Jnly our advanced corps,, the 
First and Eleventh, under Generals Reynolds and Howard, 
came in contact with the enemy, strongly posted near the 
town of Gettysburg, and, attacking at once, fought an in- 
decisive battle ; the enemy being so far superior in num- 
bers as to compel General Howard, who was in command 
at the time, to fall back to Cemetery Hill and wait for 
re-enforcements. During the night all the corps of our 
army were concentrated and the next day posted around 
that point. The Eleventh Corps retained its position on 
the Cemetery ridge : the First Corps was on the right of 
the Eleventh, on a knoll, connecting with the ridge ex- 
tending to the south and east, on which the Second Corps 
was placed. The right of the Twelfth Corps rested on a 
small stream. The Second and Third Corps were posted 
on the left of the Eleventh, on the prolongation of Ceme- 
tery ridge. The Fifth was held in reserve until the arrival 
of the Sixth, at 2 p. m. on the 2d, after a march of thirty- 
two miles in seventeen hours, when the Fifth was ordered 
to the extreme left and the Sixth placed in reserve. 

At about 3 o'clock the battle was opened by a tremen- 
dous onset of the enemy, whose troops were massed 
along a ridge a mile or so in our front, upon the Third 
Corps, which formed our extreme left, and which met the 
shock with heroic firmness, until it was supported by the 
Third and Fifth. General Sickles, who commanded the 
Third Corps, was severely wounded early in the action, 
and General Birney, who succeeded to the command, 
though urged to fall back, was enabled, by the help of the 
First and Sixth Corps, to hold his ground, and at about 
sunset the enemy retired in confusion. Another assault 
was made on our left during the evening, which was also 
repulsed. On the morning of the 3d, a spirited assault was 
made upon the right of our line, but without success , 
and at one p. m. the enemy opened an artillery fire upon 
our centre and left from one hundred and twenty-five 
guns, which continued fer over two hours, without reply 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. 411 

from our side, when it was followed "by a heavy assault 
of infantry, directed mainly against the Second Corps, 
and repealed with firmness and success by that corps, 
supported by StannarcVs Brigade of the First Corps. 
This repulse of the centre terminated the battle. On 
the morning of the 4th, a reconnoissance showed that the 
enemy had withdrawn his left flank, maintaining his posi- 
tion in front of our left, with the apparent purpose of form- 
ing a new line of attack ; but the next morning it was 
ascertained that he was in full retreat. The Sixth Corps, 
with all disposable cavalry, were at once sent in pursuit ; 
but ascertaining that the enemy had availed himself of 
very strong passes which could be held by a small force, 
General Meade determined to pursue by a flank move- 
ment, and after burying the dead and succoring the 
wounded, the whole army was put in motion for the 
Potomac. On the 12th it arrived in front of the enemy, 
strongly posted on the heights in advance of Williams- 
port. The next day was devoted to an examination of 
the position ; but on advancing for an attack on the 14th, 
it was discovered that the enemy had succeeded in cross- 
ing by the bridge at Falling Waters and the ford at 
Williamsport. The pursuit was continued still further, 
but the enemy, though greatly harassed and subjected to 
severe losses, succeeded in gaining the line of the Rapi- 
dan, and our forces again occupied their old position on 
the Rappahannock. 

On the morning of the 4th of July, the day celebrated 
throughout the country as the anniversary of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, the President issued the fol- 
lowing :— 

"Washington, July 4, 10.30 a. m. 

The President announces to the country that news from the Army of 
the Potomac, up to 10 p. m. of the 3d, is such as to cover that army with 
the highest honor; to promise a great success to the cause of the Union, 
and to claim the condolence of all for the many gallant fallen ; and that 
for this he especially desires that on this day, He, whose will, not ours, 
should ever he done, he everywhere rememhered and reverenced with 
profoundest gratitude. A. Lincoln. 

The result of this battle — one of the severest and most 



412 The Life, Public Services, and 

sanguinary of the war — was of the utmost importance. 
It drove the rebels back from their intended invasion of 
Pennsylvania and Maryland, and compelled them to 
evacuate the upper part of the Valley of the Shenan- 
doah, leaving in our hands nearly fourteen thousand pris- 
oners, and twenty-five thousand small arms collected on 
the battle-field. Our own losses were very severe, amount- 
ing to two thousand eight hundred and thirty-four killed, 
thirteen thousand seven hundred and nine wounded, and 
six thousand six hundred and forty-three missing — in all 
twenty-three thousand one hundred and eighty-six. 

During the ensuing season, a piece of ground, seventeen 
and a half acres in extent, adjoining the town cemetery, 
and forming an important part of the battle-field, was 
purchased by the State of Pennsylvania, to be used as a 
national burying-ground for the loyal soldiers who fell 
in that great engagement. It was dedicated, with solemn 
and impressive ceremonies, on the 19th of November, 
1S63, the President and members of his Cabinet being in 
attendance, and a very large and imposing military dis- 
play adding grace and dignity to the occasion. Hon. 
Edward Everett delivered the formal address, and Presi- 
dent Lincoln made the following remarks : — 

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this 
continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the prop- 
osition that all men are created equal. Now Ave are engaged in a great 
civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so 
dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that 
war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting- 
place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It 
is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger 
sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this 
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have con- 
secrated it far above our power to add or detract. (' The world will little 
note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what 
they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly ad- 
vanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remain- 
ing before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion 
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ; that 
we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ; tluit 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 413 

this nation, under God, shall have a new hirth of freedom, and that gov- 
ernment of the people, hy the people, and for the people, shall not perish 
from the earth. 

The other great military achievement of the year -was 
the capture of Port Hudson and Vicksburg, and the 
opening of the Mississippi River throughout its entire 
length to the commerce of the United States. General IS". 
P. Banks, who succeeded General Butler in command of 
the military department of Louisiana, reached New Or- 
leans, sustained by a formidable expedition from New 
York, and assumed command on the 15th of December, 
1862, and at once took possession of Baton Rouge. On 
the 21st, an expedition under General W. T. Sherman 
started from Memphis, passed down the Mississippi to 
the mouth of the Yazoo, some ten miles above Vicksburg, 
and on the 26th ascended that river, landed, and com- 
menced an attack upon the town from the rear. Severe 
fighting continued for three days, during which time our 
army pushed within two miles of the city ; but on the 
30th they were repulsed with heavy loss. On the 2d of 
January, General McClernand arrived and took com- 
mand, and the attack upon Vicksburg was for the time 
abandoned as hopeless. The capture of Arkansas Post, 
however, relieved the failure in some degree. On Feb- 
ruary 2d, General Grant having been put in command, 
the attack upon Vicksburg was renewed. Various plans 
were undertaken, now to get in the rear of the place through 
bayous, and now to cut a canal across a bend of the Mis- 
sissippi, and thus command the river above and below. 
All these failing, vessels were boldly run by the rebel 
batteries ; and, on the 30th of April, General Grant 
crossed the river at Bruinsburg, sixty-five miles below 
Vicksburg, and immediately advanced upon Port Gib- 
son, where he was opposed by the rebel General Eow- 
en, who was defeated, with a loss in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners, of one thousand five hundred men. At 
Grand Gulf, ten miles above Bruinsburg, the enemy had 
begun to erect strong fortifications. These had been 
fired upon by our gunboats a few days before, under 
cover of which the fleet had run past. Grant having 



414 The Life, Public Services, and 

now gained the rear of this strong post, Admiral Porter, 
two days after the light at Port Gibson, returned to 
Grand Gulf and found it abandoned. Grant's army 
then marched upward towards Vicksburg, and on the 
12th of May encountered the enemy again at Raymond, 
not far from Jackson, the capital of the State of Missis- 
sippi, and again defeated them with a loss of eight hun- 
dred. Two days after, May 14, they were opposed by a 
corps of the enemy under General Joseph E. Johnston, 
formerly the commander-in-chief of the Confederate 
armjr, who had been assigned to the command of the De- 
partment of the Mississippi. Johnston was defeated, and 
the city of Jackson fell into our hands, with seventeen 
pieces of artillery and large stores of supplies. Grant 
then turned to the west, directly upon the rear of Vicks- 
burg. General Pemberton, the commander at that point, 
advanced with the hope of checking him, but was de- 
feated, on the 16th, at Baker's Creek, losing four thou- 
sand men, and twenty-nine pieces of artillery. On the 
next day the same force was encountered and defeated at 
Big Black River Bridge, ten miles from Vicksburg, with 
a loss of two thousand six hundred men, and seventeen 
pieces of artillery. On the 18th, Vicksburg was closely 
invested, and the enemy were shut up Avithin their works, 
which were found to be very strong. An attempt to 
carry them by storm was unsuccessful, and regular siege 
was at once laid to the city by the land forces, the gun- 
boats in the river co-operating. Our approaches were 
pushed forward with vigorous perseverance ; our works, 
in spite of the most strenuous opposition of the garrison 
under General Pemberton, drawing nearer every day, 
and the gunboats in the river keeping up an almost con- 
stant bombardment. The enemy, it was known, were 
greatly straitened by want of supplies and ammuni- 
tion, and their only hope of relief was that General 
Johnston would be able to collect an army sufficient to 
raise the siege by attacking Grant in his rear. This had 
been so strongly defended that a force of fifty thousand 
men would have been required to make the attempt with 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 415 

with any hope of success, and Johnston was not able to 
concentrate half of that number. General Pemberton, 
therefore, proposed to surrender Vicksburg on the morn- 
ing of the 4th of July, on condition that his trooyjs should 
be permitted to march out. Grant refused, demanding an 
absolute surrender of the garrison as prisoners of Avar. 
Upon consultation with his officers, Pemberton acceded 
to these terms. By this surrender about thirty-one thou- 
sand prisoners, two hundred and twenty cannon, and 
seventy thousand stand of small arms fell into our«hands. 
The prisoners were at once released on parole. The 
entire loss of the enemy during the campaign which was 
thus closed by the surrender of Vicksburg, was nearly 
forty thousand ; ours was not far from seven thousand. 

The capture of Vicksburg was immediately followed 
by that of Port Hudson, which was surrendered on the 
8th of July to General Banks, together with about seven 
thousand prisoners, fifty cannon, and a considerable num- 
ber of small arms. The whole course of the Mississippi. 
from its source to its mouth, was thus opened, and the 
Confederacy virtually separated into two parts, neither 
capable of rendering any effective assistance to the other. 

The great victories, by which the Fourth of July had 
been so signally and so gloriously commemorated, called 
forth the most enthusiastic rejoicings in every section of 
the country. Public meetings were held in nearly all the 
cities and principal towns, at which eloquent speeches 
and earnest resolutions expressed the joy of the people, 
and testified their unflinching purpose to prosecute the 
war until the rebellion should be extinguished. A large 
concourse of the citizens of Washington, preceded hy a 
band of music, visited the residence of the President, and 
the members of his Cabinet — giving them, in succession, 
the honors Of a serenade— which the President acknowl- 
edged in the following remarks : — 

Fei/low-Citizens : — I am very glad indeed to see you to-night, and yet 
I will not say I thank you, for this call ; hut I do most sincerely thank 
Almighty God for the occasion on which you have called. How long 
ago is it? — eighty odd years since, on the Fourth of July, for the first 



416 The Life, Public Services, and 

time, in the history of the world, a nation, hy its representatives, assem- 
bled and declared as a self-evident truth, "that all men are created 
equal." That was the birthday of the United States of America. Since 
then the Fourth of July has had several very peculiar recognitions. Tho 
two men most distinguished in the framing and support of the Declara- 
tion were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — the one having penned 
it, and the other sustained it the most forcibly in debate — the only two 
of the fifty-five who signed it, and were elected Presidents of the United 
States. Precisely fifty years after they put their hands to the paper, it 
pleased Almighty God to take both from this stage of action. This was 
indeed an extraordinary and remarkable event in our history. Another 
President, five years after, was called from this stage of existence on 
the same day and month of the year ; and now on this last Fourth of 
July, just passed, when we have a gigantic rebellion, at the bottom of 
which is an effort to overthrow the principle that all men were created 
equal, we have the surrender of a most powerful position and army on 
that very day. And not only so, but in a succession of battles in Penn- 
sylvania, near to us, through three days, so rapidly fought that they 
might be called one great battle, on the first, second, and third of the 
month of July; and on the fourth the cohorts of those who opposed 
the Declaration that all men are created equal, "turned tail" and run. 
[Long-continued cheers.] Gentlemen, this is a glorious theme, and the 
occasion for a speech, but I am not prepared to make one worthy of the 
occasion. I would like to speak in terms of praise due to the many brave 
officers and soldiers who have fought in the cause of the Union and liber- 
ties of their country from the beginning of the war. These are trying 
occasions, not only in success, but for the want of success. I dislike to 
mention the name ok one single officer, lest I might do wrong to those I 
might forget. Recent events bring up glorious names, and particularly 
p'-ominent ones ; but these I will not mention. Having said this much, I 
will now take the music. 

The President, a few days afterwards, wrote to General 
Grant the following letter : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 13, 1SG3. 

Major-General Grant : 

My Dear General: — I do not remember that you and I ever met per- 
sonally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost 
inestimable service you have done the country. I write to say a word 
further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought ym 
should do what you finally did — march the troops across the neck, run 
the batteries with the transports, and thus go below ; and I never had 
any faith, except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the 
Yazoo Pass expedition, and the like, could succeed. When you got below, 
aud took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go' 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 417 

down the river and join General Banks, and when yon turned northward, 
east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to make tho 
personal acknowledgment, that you were right and I was wrong. 

Yours, truly, 

A. LrNOOLST. 

These victories, together with others, "both numerous 
and important, which were achieved in other sections of 
the country, gave such strong grounds of encouragement 
and hope for the speedy overthrow of the rebellion, that, 
on the 15th of July, the President issued the following 
proclamation for a day of National Thanksgiving : — 

By the President of the United States of America. 
A PROCLAMATION. 

It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the supplications and 
prayers of an afflicted people, and to vouchsafe to the Army and the 
Navy of the United States, on the land and on the sea, victories so signal 
and so effective as to furnish reasonable grounds for augmented confi- 
dence that the Union of these States will be maintained, their Constitu- 
tion preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently secured ; but 
these victories have been accorded, not without sacrifice of life, limb, 
and liberty, incurred by brave, patriotic, and loyal citizens. Domestic 
affliction, in every part of the country, follows in the train of these fear- 
ful bereavements. It is meet and right to recognize and confess the pres- 
ence of the Almighty Father, and the power of His hand, equally in 
these triumphs and these sorrows. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that I do set apart Thursday, the sixth 
day of August next, to be observed as a day for National Thanksgiving, 
praise, and prayer; and I invite the people of the United States to assem- 
ble on that occasion in their customary places of worship, ami in the 
form approved by their own conscience, render the homage due to the 
Divine Majesty, for the wonderful things lie has done in tho Nation's 
behalf, and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit, to subdue the anger 
winch has produced, and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion; 
to change the hearts of the insurgents; to guide the counsels of the Gov- 
ernment with wisdom adequate to so great a national emergency, and to 
visit with tender care and consolation, throughout the length and breadth 
of our land, all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, 
battles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate, 
and finally, to lead the whole nation, through paths of repentanco and 
submission to the Divine will, back to the perfect enjoyment of union 
and fraternal peace. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 
27 



41S The Life, Public Services, axi> 

Done at the City of Washington, this 15th day of July, in the j ear of 
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of 
[l. s.] the independence of the United States of America the eighty- 
eighth. Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : 

Wm. II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

In other portions of the field of war, our arms, during 
the year 1863, had achieved other victories of marked 
importance which deserve mention, though their relation 
to the special object of this work is not such as to require 
them to be described in detail. 

After the retreat of the rebel General Lee to the south 
side of the Rapidan, a considerable portion of his army 
was detached and sent to re-enforce Bragg, threatened by 
Rosecrans, at Chattanooga ; but, with his numbers thus 
diminished, Lee assumed a threatening attitude against 
Meade, and turning his left flank, forced him to fall back 
to the line of Bull Run. Several sharp skirmishes oc- 
curred during these operations, in which both sides sus- 
tained considerable losses, but no substantial advantage 
was gained by the rebels, and by the 1st of November 
they had resumed their original position on the south side 
of the Rapidan. 

After the battle of Murfreesboro' , and the occupation 
of that place by our troops, on the 5th of January, 1863, 
the enemy took position at Shelbyville and Tullahoma, 
and the winter and spring were passed in raids and unim- 
portant skirmishes. In June, while General Grant was 
besieging Vicksburg, information reached the Govern- 
ment which led to the belief that a portion of Bragg' s 
army had been sent to the relief of that place ; and Gen- 
eral Rosecrans was urged to take advantage of this divi- 
sion of the rebel forces and drive them back into Georgia, 
so as completely to deliver East Tennessee from the rebel 
armies. He was told that General Burnside would move 
from Kentucky in aid of this movement. General Rose- 
crans, however, deemed his forces unequal to such an 
enterprise ; but, receiving re-enforcements, he commenced 
on the 25th of June a forward movement upon the enemy, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 419 

strongly intrenched at Tullahoma, with his main force 
near Shelbyville. Deceiving the rebel General by a 
movement upon his left flank, Rosecrans threw the main 
body of his army upon the enemy's right, which he turned 
so completely that Bragg abandoned his position, and fed. 
back rapidly, and in confusion, to Bridgeport, Alabama, 
being pursued as far as practicable by our forces. Gen- 
eral Burnside had been ordered to connect himself with 
Rosecrans, but had failed to do so. Bragg continued his 
retreat across the Cumberland Mountain and the Tennes- 
see River, and took post at Chattanooga, whither he was 
pursued by Rosecrans, who reached the Tennessee on the 
20th of August, and on the 21st commenced shelling Chat- 
tanooga and making preparation for throwing his army 
across the river. A reconnoissance, made by General 
Crittenden on the 9th of September, disclosed the fact 
that the rebels had abandoned the position, which was 
immediately occupied by our forces, who pushed forward 
towards the South. Indications that the rebel General 
was receiving heavy re-enforcements and manoeuvring to 
turn the right of our army, led to a concentration of all our 
available forces ; but, notwithstanding all this, on the 
19th of September, General Rosecrans was attacked 
by the rebel forces — their main force being directed 
against his left wing, under General Thomas, endeav- 
oring to turn it so as to gain the road to Chattanoo- 
ga. The attack was renewed the next morning, and 
with temporary success — Longstreet's Corps, which had 
been brought down from the Army of Virginia, hav- 
ing reached the field and poured its massive columns 
through a gap left in the centre of our line by an unfor- 
tunate misapprehension of an order ; but the opportune 
arrival and swift energy of General Granger checked his 
advance, and the desperate valor of Thomas and his 
troops repulsed every subsequent attempt of the enemy 
to carry the position. Our losses, in this series of engage- 
ments, were sixteen hundred and forty-four killed, nine 
thousand two hundred and sixty-two wounded, and four 
thousand eight hundred and forty-five missing — a total 



420 The Life, Public Services, and 

swelled, by the estimated losses of our cavalry to a"bont 
sixteen thousand three hundred and fifty-one. The rebel 
General immediately sent Longstreet against Burnside, 
who was at Knoxville, while he established his main 
force again in the neighborhood of Chattanooga. In 
October, General Rosecrans was superseded by General 
Grant. On November 23d, having been re-enforced by 
General Sherman from Vicksburg, General Grant moved 
his army to the attack, and on the 25th the whole of tho 
range of heights known as Missionary Ridge, held by 
Bragg, was carried by our troops after a desperate strug- 
gle, and the enemy completely routed. This was a very 
severe engagement, and our loss was estimated at about 
four thousand. Generals Thomas and Hooker pushed 
the rebel forces back into Georgia, and Granger and 
Sherman were sent into East Tennessee to relieve Burn- 
side, and raise the siege of Knoxville, which was pressed 
by Longstreet, who, failing in this attempt, soon after 
retreated towards Virginia. 

Upon receiving intelligence of these movements the 
President issued the following recommendation : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, December 7, 18G3. 

Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreat- 
ing from East Tennessee, under circumstances rendering it probable that 
the Union forces cannot hereafter he dislodged from that important posi- 
tion ; and esteeming this to be of high national consequence, I recom- 
mend that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at 
their places of worship, and render special homage and gratitude to Al- 
mighty God for this great advancement of the national cause. 

A. Lincoln. 

On the 3d of October, the President had issued the fol- 
lowing proclamation, recommending the observance of the 
last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving : — 

PROCLAMATION. 

By the President of the United States of America. 
The year that is drawing towards its close has been filled with the 
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which 
are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which 
they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a na- 
ture that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart whicn 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 421 

is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty 
God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, 
which has sometimes seemed, to invite and provoke the aggressions of 
foreign States, peace has been preserved Avith all nations, order has been 
maintained, the laws have been respected, and obeyed, and harmony has 
prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict, while 
that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and 
navies of the Union. The needful diversion of wealth and strength from 
the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, has not arrested 
the plough, the shuttle, or the ship. The axe has enlarged the borders of 
our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious 
metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population 
has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in 
the camp, the siege, and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in 
the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect 
a continuance of years, with large increase of freedom. 

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out 
these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, 
who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless re- 
membered mercy. 

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, 
reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and voice, 
by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens 
in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and 
those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe 
the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and prayer 
to our beneficent Father, who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recom- 
mend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him 
for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble 
penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His 
tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or 
sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably en- 
gaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to 
heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be con- 
sistent with the divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, 
tranquillity, and union. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this third day of October, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, 

[l. s.] and of the independence of the United States the eighty- 
eighth. 

Aekaitam Lincoln. 

By the President : 

William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 



4 22 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER XIV. 

POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN MISSOURI.— THE STATE ELECTIONS OP 

18G3. 

General Fremont in Missouri. — TrtE President's Letter to General 
Hunter. — Emancipation in Missouri. — Appointment of General 
ScnoFiELD. — The President and tiie Missouri K&dicals. — The Pres- 
ident to TnE Missouri Committee. — The President and General 
Soiiofield. — TnE President and the Churches. — Letter to Illinois. 
— The Elections of 1863. 

The condition of affairs in Missouri had "been somewhat 
peculiar, from the very outbreak of the rebellion. At 
the outset the Executive Department of the State Gov- 
ernment was in the hands of men in full sympathy with 
the secession cause, who, under pretence of protecting 
the State from domestic violence, were organizing its 
forces for active co-operation with the rebel movement. 
On the 30th of July, 1801, the State Convention, origi- 
nally called by Governor Jackson, for the purpose of 
taking Missouri out of the Union, but to which the 
peojole had elected a large majority of Union men, de- 
clared all the Executive offices of the State vacant, by 
reason of the treasonable conduct of the incumbents, and 
appointed a Provisional Government, of which the Hon. 
H. R. Gamble was at the head.. He at once took meas- 
ures to maintain the national authority within the State. 
He ordered the troops belonging to the rebel Confederacy 
to withdraw from it, and called upon all the citizens of 
the State to organize for its defence, and for the preserva- 
tion of peace within its borders. He also issued a proc- 
lamation, framed in accordance with the following sug- 
gestions from Washington : — 

"Washington, August 3, 1301. 
To His Excellency Gov. Gamble, Governor of Missouri : 

In reply to your message, addressed to the President, I am directed to 
to say, that if, hy a proclamation, you promise security to citizens in 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 423 

arrr.s, who voluntarily return to their allegiance, and behave as peaceablo 
and loyal men, thio Government will cause tho promise to be respected. 

Simon Cameeon, Secretary of War. 

Two days after this, Governor Jackson, returning from 
Richmond, declared the State to be no longer one of the 
United States ; and on the 2d of November, the legisla- 
ture, summoned by him as Governor, ratified a compact, 
by which certain commissioners, on both sides, had 
agreed that Missouri should join the rebel Confederacy. 
The State authority was thus divided— two persons 
claiming to wield the Executive authority, and two 
bodies, also, claiming to represent the popular will — 
one adhering to the Union, and the other to the Confed- 
eracy in organized rebellion against it. This state of 
things naturally led to wide-spread disorder, and carried 
all the evils of civil war into every section and neighbor 
hood of the State. 

To these evils were gradually added others, growing 
out of a division of sentiment, which afterwards ripened 
into sharp hostility, among the friends of the Union 
within the State. One of the earliest causes of this 
dissension was the action and removal of General Fre- 
mont, who arrived at St. Louis, to take command of the 
Western Department, on the 26th of July, 1861. On the 
31st of August he issued a proclamation, declaring that 
circumstances, in his judgment, of sufficient urgency, 
rendered it necessary that "the Commanding General of 
the Department should assume the administrative power 
of the State," thus superseding entirely the authority of 
the civil rulers. He also proclaimed the whole State to 
be under martial law, declared that all persons taken 
with arms in their hands, within the designated lines of 
the Department, should be tried by court-martial, and, if 
found guilty, shot ; and confiscated the property and 
emancipated the slaves of "all persons who should be 
proved to have taken an active part with the enemies of 
the United States." This latter clause, transcending the 
authority conferred by the Confiscation Act of Congress, 



424 The Life, Public Services, and 

was subsequently modified by order of the President of 
the United States.* 

On the 14th of October, after a personal inspection of 
affairs in that Department by the Secretary of "War, an 
order was issued from the War Department, in effect 
censuring General Fremont for having expended very 
large sums of the public money, through agems of his 
own appointment, and not responsible to the Govern- 
ment ; requiring all contracts and disbursements to be 
made by the proper officers of the army ; directing the 
discontinuance of the extensive fieldworks which the Gen- 
eral was erecting around St. Louis and Jefferson City, and 
also the barracks in construction around his head-quar- 
ters ; and also notifying him that the officers to whom he 
had issued commissions would not be paid until those 
commissions should have been approved by the Presi- 
dent. On the 1st of November, General Fremont en- 
tered into an agreement with General Sterling Price, 
commanding the rebel forces in Missouri, by which each 
party stipulated that no further arrests of citizens should 
be made on either side for the expression of political 
opinions, and releasing all who were then in custody on 
such chaiges. 

On the 2d of November, General Fremont was relieved 
from his command in the Western Department, in conse- 
quence of his action in the matters above referred to, his 
command devolving on General Hunter, to whom, as 
soon as a change in the command of the Department had 
been decided on, the President had addressed the follow- 
ing letter : — 

"Washington, Octobtr 24, 1S61. 

Sir: — The command of the Department of the West having devolved 
npon yon, I propose to offer you a few suggestions, knowing how hazard- 
ous it is to bind down a distant commander in the field to specific lines of 
operation, as so much always depends on the knowledge of localities and 
passing events. It is intended, therefore, to leave considerable margin 
for the e: srcise of your judgment and discretion. 

The Main rebel army (Price's) west of the Mississippi is believed to 
liavo passed Dade County in full retreat upon Northwestern Arkansas, 

* See page 208. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 425 

leaving Missouri almost free from the enemy, excepting in the southeast 
part of the State. Assuming this basis of fact, it seems desiral le — a3 you 
are not likely to overtake Price, and are in danger of making too long a 
line from your own base of supplies and re-enforcements — that you should 
give up the pursuit, halt your main army, divide it into two corps of 
observation, one occupying Sedalia and the other Rolla, the present 
termini of railroads, then recruit the condition of both corps by re- 
establishing and improving their discipline and instruction, perfecting 
their clothing and equipments, and providing less uncomfortable quarters. 
Of course, both railroads must be guarded and kept open, judiciously 
employing just so much force as is necessary for this. From these two 
points, Sedalia and Rolla, and especially in judicious co-operation with 
Lane on the Kansas border, it would be very easy to concentrate, and 
repel any army of the enemy returning on Missouri on the southwest. 
As it is not probable any such attempt to return will be made before or 
during the approaching cold weather, before spring the people of Missouri 
will be in no favorable mood for renewing for next year the troubles 
which have so much afflicted and impoverished them during this. 

If you take this line of policy, and if, as I anticipate, you will see no 
enemy in great force approaching, you will have a surplus force which you 
can withdraw from those points, and direct to others, as may be needed 
— the railroads furnishing ready means of re-enforcing those main points, 
if occasion requires. 

Doubtless local uprisings for a time will continue to occur, but those 
can be met by detachments of local forces of our own, and will ere long 
tire out of themselves. 

While, as stated at the beginning of this letter, a large discretion must 
be and is left with yourself, I feel sure that an indefinite pursuit of Price, 
or an attempt by this long and circuitous route to reach Memphis, will be 
exhaustive beyond endurance, and will end in the loss of the whole force 
engaged in it. Your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 
The Commander of the Department of the "West. 

General Hunter's first act was to repudiate the agree- 
ment of General Fremont with General Price, and, on 
the 18th of November, General Halleck arrived as his 
successor. 

The action of General Fremont had given rise to very 
serious complaints on the part of the people of Missouri ; 
and these, in turn, had led to strong demonstrations on his 
behalf. His removal was made the occasion for public 
manifestations of sympathy for him, and of censure for the 
Government. An address was presented to him. signed 



426 The Life, Public Services, and 

"by large numbers of the citizens of St. Louis, those of 
German birth largely predominating, in which his removal 
was ascribed to jealousy of his popularity, and to the fact 
that his policy in regard to emancipation was in advance 
of the Government at Washington. "You have risen," 
said this address, "too fast in popular favor. The policy 
announced in your proclamation, although hailed as a. 
political and military necessity, furnished your ambitious 
rivals and enemies with a cruel weapon for your intended 
destruction. The harbingers of truth will ever be crucified 
by the Pharisees. We cannot be deceived by shallow 
and flimsy pretexts, by unfounded and slanderous reports. 
We entertain no doubt of your ability to speedily con- 
found and silence your traducers. The day of reckoning 
is not far distant, and the people will take care that the 
schemes of your opponents shall, in the end, be signal] y 
defeated." The General accepted these tributes to his 
merits, and these denunciations of the Government, with 
grateful acknowledgments, saying that the kind and affec- 
tionate demonstrations which greeted him, cheered and 
strengthened his confidence — "my confidence,'" he said, 
"already somewhat wavering, in our republican institu- 
tions." 

The sharp personal discussions to which this incident 
gave rise, were made still more bitter, by denunciations 
of General Halleck's course in excluding, for military 
reasons, which have been already noticed,* fugitive slaves 
from our lines, and by the contest that soon came up in, 
the State Convention, on the general subject of emancipa- 
tion. On the 7th of June, 18G2, a bill was introduced 
into the convention by Judge Breckinridge, of St. Louis, 
for gradual emancipation, framed in accordance with the 
recommendation of the President's Message. By the 
combined votes of those who were opposed to eman- 
cipation in any form, and those who were opposed to the 
President's plan of gradual emancipation, this bill was 
summarily laid on the table. But on the 13th, the subject 
was again brought up by a message from Governor 

See page 330. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 427 

Gamble, calling attention to the fact that Congress had 
passed a resolution, in accordance with the President's 
recommendation, declaring that "the United States ought 
to co-operate with, any State which might adopt a gradual 
emancipation of slavery, giving to such State, at its dis- 
cretion, compensation for the inconvenience, public and 
private, caused by such a change of system." This mes- 
sage was referred to a special committee, which reported 
resolutions, recognizing the generous spirit of this pro- 
posal, but declining to take any action upon it. These 
resolutions were adopted, and on the 16th a Mass Con- 
vention of Emancipationists, consisting of one hundred 
and ninety-five delegates from twenty-five counties, met at 
Jefferson City, and passed resolutions, declaring it to be the 
duty of the next General Assembly to pass laws giving effect 
to a gradual system of emancipation on the basis proposed. 

At the State election, in the following November, the 
question of emancipation was the leading theme of con- 
troversy. Throughout the State the canvass turned upon 
this issue, and resulted in the choice of a decided majority 
of the Assembly favorable to emancipation. But the di- 
vision in the ranks of this party still continued, and gave 
rise to very heated and bitter contests, especially in St. 
Louis. During the summer, the main rebel army having 
been driven from the State, and the Union army being of 
necessity in the main withdrawn to other fields, the State 
was overrun by reckless bands of rebel guerrillas, who 
robbed and plundered Union citizens, and created very 
great alarm among the people. In consequence of these 
outrages, Governor Gamble ordered the organization of 
the entire militia of the State, and authorized General 
Schofield to call into active service such portions of it as 
might be needed to put down marauders, and defend peace 
able and loyal citizens. The organization was effected 
with great promptness, and the State militia became a 
powerful auxiliary of the National forces, and cleared all 
sections of the State of the lawless bands which had in- 
flicted so much injury and committed so many outrages. 

On the 19th of September, the States of Missouri, Kan- 



428 The Life, Public Services, and 

sas, and Arkansas were formed into a military district, 
of which the command was assigned to General Curtis, 
who was thoroughly in sympathy with the friends of im- 
mediate emancipation and the supporters of General 
Fremont in his differences with the Government. He had 
control of the National forces in his district, but Governor 
Gamble did not give him command of the State militia. 

The differences of political sentiment between the two 
sections of the Union men of the State came thus to be 
represented, to some extent, by two organized military 
forces ; and the contest between their respective partisans 
continued to be waged with increasing bitterness, greatly 
to the embarrassment of the Government at Washington, 
and to the weakening of the Union cause. This continued 
until the spring of 18G3, when the President removed 
General Curtis from his command, and appointed General 
Scholield in his place. This gave rise to very vehement 
remonstrances and protests, to one of which, sent by tele- 
graph, the President made the following reply : — 

Your dispatch of to-day is just received. It is very painful to me that 
you, in Missouri, cannot, or will not, settle your factional quarrel among 
yourselves. I have been tormented with it beyond endurance, for months, 
by both sides. Neither side pays the least respect to my appeals to your 
reason. I am now compelled to take hold of the case. 

A. Lincoln. 

To General Scholield himself, the President soon after 
addressed the following letter :— 

Executive Mansion, Washington, May 27, 1S63. 

General J. M. ScnonELD : 

Dear Sir : — Having removed General Curtis and assigned you to the 
command of the Department of the Missouri, I think it may be of some 
advantage to me to state to you why I did it. I did not remove Genera- 
Curtis because of my full conviction that he had done wrong by commis- 
sion or omission. I did it because of a conviction in my mind that the 
Union men of Missouri, constituting, when united, a vast majority of trie 
people, have entered into a pestilent, factious quarrel, among themselves, 
General Curtis, perhaps not of choice, being the head of one faction, and 
Governor Gamble that of the other. After months of labor to reconcile 
the difficulty, it seemed to grow worse and worse, until I felt it my duty 
to break it up somehow, and as I could not remove Governor Gamble, I 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 429 

had to remove General Curtis. Now that you are in the position, I wish 
you to undo nothing merely because General Curtis or Governor Gamble 
did it, but to exercise your own judgment, and do right for the public in- 
terest. Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the invaders 
and keep the peace, and not so strong as to unnecessarily harass and per- 
secute the people. It is a difficult rule, and so much greater will be the 
honor if you perform it well. If both factions, or neither, shall abuse 
you, you will probably be about right. Beware of being assailed by one 
and praised by the other. Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 

This action gave special dissatisfaction to the more rad- 
ical Unionists of the State. They had been anxious to 
have the Provisional Government, of which Governor 
Gamble was the executive head, set aside by the National 
authority, and the control of the State vested in a Military 
Governor clothed with the authority which General Fre- 
mont had assumed to exercise by his proclamation of 
August 31st, 18C1 ; — and the Germans enlisted in the 
movement had made very urgent demands for the restora- 
tion of General Fremont himself. Several deputations 
visited Washington, for the purpose of representing these 
views and wishes to the President — though they by no 
means restricted their efforts at reform to matters within 
their own State, but insisted upon sundry changes in the 
Cabinet, upon the dismissal of General Halleck from the 
position of Commander of the Armies of the United States, 
and upon other matters of equal magnitude and impor- 
tance. 

The following report of President Lincoln's reply to 
these various requests was made by a member of a com- 
mittee appointed at a mass meeting, composed mainly of 
Germans, and held at St. Louis on the 10th of May : 
although made by a person opposed to the President's 
action, it probably gives a substantially correct statement 
of his remarks : — 

Messrs. Emile Pretoriotxs, Theodore Olsiiausen, P. E. Rombatjr, &c. : 

Gentlemen: — During a professional visit to Washington City, I pre- 
sented to the President of the United States, in compliance with your in- 
structions, a copy of the resolutions adopted in mass meeting at St. Louis 
on the 10th of May, 18G3, and I requested a reply to the suggestions therein 
contained. The President, after a careful and loud reading of the whole 



430 The Life, Public Services, and 

report of proceedings, saw proper to enter into a conversation of two 
hours' duration, in the course of which most of the topics embraced in 
the resolutions and other subjects were discussed. 

As my share in the conversation is of secondary importance, I propose 
to omit it entirely in tbis report, and, avoiding details, to communicate to 
you the substance of noteworthy remarks made by the President. 

1. The President said that it may be a misfortune for the nation that he 
was elected President. But, having been elected by the people, he meant 
to be President, and perform his duty according to his best understanding, 
if he had to die for it. No General will be removed, nor will any change 
in the Cabinet be made, to suit the views or wishes of any particular 
party, faction, or set of men. General Halleck is not guilty of the charges 
made against him, most of which arise from misapprehension or ignorance 
of those who prefer them. 

2. The President said that it was a mistake to suppose that Generals 
John 0. Fremont, B. F. Butler, and F. Sigel are "systematically kept out 
of command, 1 ' as stated in the fourth resolution; that, on the contrary, 
he fully appreciated the merits of the gentlemen named ; that by their 
own actions they had placed themselves in the positions which they occu- 
pied; that he was not only willing, but anxious to place them again in 
command as soon as he could find spheres of action for them, without 
doing injustice to others, but that at present he " had more pegs than 
holes to put them in." 

3. As to the want of unity, the President, without admitting such to be 
the case, intimated that each member of the Cabinet was responsible 
mainly for the manner of conducting the affairs of his particular depart- 
ment ; that there was no centralization of responsibility for the action of 
the Cabinet anywhere, except in the President himself. 

4. The dissensions between Union men in Missouri are due solely to a 
factious spirit, which is exceedingly reprehensible. The two parties 
''ought to have their heads knocked together." "Either would rather 
see the defeat of their adversary than that of Jefferson Davis." To this 
spirit of faction is to be ascribed the failure of the legislature to elect 
senators and the defeat of the Missouri Aid Bill in Congress, the passage 
of which the President strongly desired. 

The President said that the Union men in Missouri who are in favor of 
gradual emancipation represented Ids views better t ian those who are in 
favor of immediate emancipation. In explanation of his view r s on this 
subject, the President said that in his speeches he had frequently used as 
an illustration, the case of a man who had an excrescence on the back 
of his neck, the removal of which, in one operation, would result in the 
death of the patient, while " tinkering it off by degrees " would preserve 
life. Although sorely tempted, I did not reply with the illustration of the 
dog whose tail was amputated by inches, but confined myself to argu- 
ments. The President announced clearly that, as far as he was at present 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 431 

advised, the radicals in Missouri had no right to consider themselves the 
exponents of his views on the subject of emancipation in that State. 

5. General Curtis was not relieved on account of any wrong act or great 
mistake committed by him. The system of Provost-Marshals, established 
by him throughout the State, gave rise to violent complaint. That the 
President had thought at one time to appoint General Fremont in his 
place; that at another time he had thought of appointing General Mc- 
Dowell, whom he characterized as a good and loyal though very unfortu- 
nate soldier; and that, at last, General Schofield was appointed, with a 
view, if possible, to reconcile and satisfy the two factions in Missouri, 
lie has instructions not to interfere with either party, but to confine him- 
self to his military duties. I assure you, gentlemen, that our side was as 
fully presented as the occasion permitted. At the close of the conversa- 
tion, the President remarked that there was evidently a " serious misunder- 
standing" springing up between him and the Germans of St. Louis, which 
he would like to see removed. Observing to him that the dilierence of 
opinion related to facts, men, and measures, I withdrew. 

I am, very respectfully, &c, 

James TArssm. 

On the 1st of July the State Convention, in session at 
Jefferson City, passed an amendment to the Constitution, 
declaring that slavery should cease to exist in Missouri 
on the 4th of July, 1870, with certain specified exceptions. 
This, however, was by no means accepted as a final dis- 
position of the matter. The demand was made for imme- 
diate emancipation, and Governor Gamble and the mem- 
bers of the Provisional Government who had favored the 
policy adopted by the State Convention, were denounced 
as the advocates of slavery and allies of the rebellion. In 
the early part of August a band of rebel guerrillas made 
a raid into the town of Lawrence, Kansas, and butchered 
in cold blood over two hundred unarmed citizens of the 
place. This brutal act aroused the most intense excite- 
ment in the adjoining State of Missouri, of which the op- 
ponents of the Provisional Government took advantage 
to throw upon it and General Schofield, who had command 
of the State militia as well as of the National forces, the 
responsibility of having permitted this massacre to take 
place. 

A M ass Convention was held at Jefferson City on the 2d 
of September, at which resolutions were adopted denoun- 



432 The Life, Public Services, and 

cing the military policy pursued in the State and the del- 
egation of military powers to the Provisional Government. 
A committee of one from each county was appointed to 
visit Washington and lay their grievances before the 
President ; and arrangements were also made for the ap- ' 
pointment of a Committee of Public Safety, to organize and 
arm the loyal men of the State, and, in the event of not ob- 
taining relief, to call on the people in their sovereign capa- 
city to "take such measures of redress as the emergency 
might require." In the latter part of September the com- 
mittee appointed by this convention visited Washington 
and had an interview with the President on the 30th, in 
which they represented Governor Gamble and General 
Schotield as in virtual alliance with the rebels, and de- 
manded the removal of the latter as an act of justice to 
the loyal and anti-slavery men of the State. The com- 
mittee visited several of the Northern cities, and held 
public meetings for the purpose of enlisting public senti- 
ment in their support. At these meetings it was claimed 
that the radical emancipation party was the only one 
which represented the loyalty of Missouri, and President 
Lincoln was very strongly censured for ' ' closing his ears 
to the just, loyal, and patriotic demands of the radical 
party, while he indorsed the disloyal and oppressive de- 
mands of Governor Gamble, General Scholield, and their 
adherents." 

On the 5th of October President Lincoln made to the 
representations and requests of the committee the follow- 
ing reply : — 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, October 5, 1SG3. 

Hon. Ciiarles Drake and others, Committee: 

Gentlemen : — Your original address, presented on the 30th nit., and 
the four supplementary ones presented on the 3d inst., have been care- 
fully considered. I hope you will regard the other duties claiming my 
attention, together with the great length and importance of these docu- 
ments, as constituting a sullicient apology for nut having responded 
sooner. 

These papers, framed for a common object, consist of the things de- 
manded, and the reasons for demanding them. 

The th'ngs demanded are — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 433 

First. That General Schofield shall be relieved, and General Butler be 
appointed as Commander of the Military Department of Missouri. 

Second. That the system of enrolled militia in Missouri may be broken 
up, and National forces he substituted for it; and 

Third. That at elections, persons may not be allowed to vote who are 
not entitled by law to do so. 

Among the reasons given, enough of suffering and wrong to Union 
men is certainly, and I suppose truly, stated. Yet the whole case, as 
presented, fails to convince me that General Schofield, or the enrolled 
militia, is responsible for that suffering and wrong. The whole can bo 
explained oa a more charitable, and, as I think, a more rational hy- 
pothesis. 

We are in civil war. In such cases there always is a main question 
but in this case that question is a perplexing compound — -Union and 
slavery. It thus becomes a question not of two sides merely, but of at 
least four sides, even among those who are for the Union, saying nothing 
of those, who are against it. Thus, those who are for the Union with, but 
not without slavery ; those for it without, but not with; those for it with 
or without, but prefer it with ; and those for it icith or without, but pre- 
fer it without. 

Among these, again, is a subdivision of those ■rcho are for gradual, but I (,<? * 

not for immediate, and those who are for immediate, but not for gradual I 
extinction of slavery. A-fl*" 1 <<*£, f| 

It is easy to conceive that all these shades of opinion, and even more, 
may be sincerely entertained by honest and truthful men. Yet, all being 
for the Union, by reason of these differences each will prefer a different 
way of sustaining the Union. At once, sincerity is questioned, and mo- 
tives are assailed. Actual war coming, blood grows hot, and blood is 
spilled. Thought is forced from old channels into confusion. Deception 
oreeds and thrives. Confidence dies, and universal suspicion reigns. 
Each man feels an impulse to kill his neighbor, lest he be killed by him. 
Iievenge and retaliation follow. And all this, as before said, may bo 
among honest men only. But this is not all. Every foul bird comes 
abroad, and every dirty reptile rises up. These add crime to confusion. 
Strong measures deemed indispensable, but harsh at best, such men 
make worse by maladministration. Murders for old grudges, and mur- 
ders for pelf, proceed under any cloak that will best serve for the oc- 
casion. 

These causes amply account for what has occurred in Missouri, with- 
out ascribing it to the weakness or wickedness of any general. n "ho 
newspaper files, those chroniclers of current events, will show that tho 
evils now complained of were quite as prevalent under Fremont, Hunter, 
Halleck, and Curtis, as under Schofield. If the former had greater force 
opposed to them, they also had greater force with which to meet it. 
When the organized rebel army left the State, the main Federal force had 
to go also, leaving the department commander at home, relatively no 
28 



434 The Life, Public Services, and 

stronger than before. Without disparaging any, I affirm with confidence 
that no commander of that department has, in proportion to his means, 
done better than General Schofield. 

The first specific charge against General Schofield is, that the enrolled 
militia was placed under his command, whereas it had not been placed 
under the command of General Curtis. The fact is, I believe, true; but 
you do not point out, nor can I conceive how that did, or could, injure 
loyal men or the Union cause. 

You charge that General Curtis being superseded by General Schofield, 
Franklin A. Dick was superseded by Jauies 0. Broadbead as Provost- 
Marshal General. No very specific showing is made as to how this did 
or could injure the Union cause. It recalls, however, the condition of 
things, as presented to me, which led to a change of commander of that 
department. 

To restrain contraband intelligence and trade, a system of searches, 
seizures, permits, and passes, had been introduced, I think, by General 
Fremont. When General Halleck came, he found and continued the sys- 
tem, and added an order, applicable to some parts of the State, to levy 
and collect contributions from noted rebels, to compensate losses, and 
relieve destitution caused by the rebellion. The action of General Fre- 
mont and General Halleck, as stated, constituted a sort of system which 
General Curtis found in full operation when he took command of the de- 
partment. That there was a necessity for something of the sort, was 
clear; but that it could only be justified by stern necessity, and that it 
'was liable to great abuse in administration, was equally clear. Agents to 
execute it, contrary to the great prayer, -were led into temptation. Some 
might, while others would not, resist that temptation. It was not possi- 
ble to hold any to a very strict accountability; and those yielding to the 
temptation would sell permits and passes to those who would pay most 
and most readily for them, and would seize property and collect levies 
in the aptest way to fill their own pockets. Money being the object, the 
man having money, whether loyal or disloyal, would be -a victim. This 
practice doubtless existed to some extent, and it was a real additional 
evil, that it could be, and was plausibly charged to exist in greater extent 
than it did. 

When General Curtis took command of the department, Mr. Dick, 
againstjwhom I never knew any thing to allege, had general charge of this 
system. A controversy in regard to it rapidly grew iuto almost unman- 
ageable proportions. One side ignored the necessity and magnified the 
evils of the system, while the other ignored the evils and magnified the 
necessity; and each bitterly assailed the other. I could not fail to see 
that the controversy enlarged in the same proportion as the professed 
Union raen there distinctly took sides in two opposing political parties. 
1 exhausted my wits, and very nearly my patience also, in efforts to con- 
vince both that the evils they charged on each other were inherent in the 
case, and could not be cured by giviug either party a victory over tbt other. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 435 

Plainly, the irritating system was not to be perpetual; and it was 
plausibly urged that it could he modified at once with advantage. The 
case could scarcely he worse, and whether it could he made better could 
only be determined by a trial. In this view, and not to ban or brand 
General Curtis, or to give a victory to any party, 1 made the change of 
commander for the department. I now learn that soon after this change 
Mr. Dick was removed, and that Mr. Broadhead, a gentleman of no less 
good character, was put in the place. The mere fact of this change is 
more distinctly complained o*" than is any conduct of the new ollicer, or 
other consequence of the change. 

I gave the new commander no instructions as to the administration of 
the system mentioned, be\ T ond what is contained in the private letter 
afterwards surreptitiously published, in which I directed him to act solely 
for the public good, and independently of both parties. Neither any 
thing you have presented me, nor any thing I have otherwise learned, has 
convinced me that he has been unfaithful to this charge. 

Imbecility is urged as one cause for removing General Schofield ; and 
the late massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, is pressed as evidence of that im- 
becility. To my mind that fact scarcely tends to prove the proposition. 
That massacre is only an example of what Grierson, John Morgan, and 
many others might have repeatedly done on their respective raids, had 
they chosen to incur the personal hazard, and possessed the fiendish hearts 
to do it. 

The charge is made that General Schofield, on purpose to protect the 
Lawrence murderers, would not allow them to be pursued into Missouri. 
While no punishment could be too sudden or too severe for those mur- 
derers, I am well satisfied that the preventing of the threatened remedial 
raid into Missouri was the only way to avoid an indiscriminate massacre 
there, including probably more innocent than guilty. Instead of con- 
demning, I therefore approve what I understand General Schofield did in 
that respect. 

The charge that General Schofield has purposely withheld protection 
from loyal people, and purposely facilitated the objects of the disloyal, 
are altogether beyond my power of belief. I do not arraign the veracity 
of gentlemen as to the facts complained of, but I do more than question 
the judgment which would infer that these facts occurred in accordance 
with the purposes of General Schofield. 

With my present views, I must decline to remove General Schofield. 
In this I decide nothing against General Butler. I sincerely wish it were 
convenient to assign him a suitable command. 

In order to meet some existing evils, I have addressed a letter of 
instruction to General Schofield, a copy of which I enclose to you. 
As to the "Enrolled Militia," I shall endeavor to ascertain, better than I 
now know, what is its exact value. Let me say now, however, that 
your proposal to substitute National force for the "Enrolled Militia," 
implies that, in your judgment, the latter is doing something which needs 



436 The Life, Public Services, and 

to be done ; and if so, the proposition to throw that force away, and to 
supply its place by bringing other forces from the field where they are 
urgently needed, seems to me very extraordinary. Whence shall they 
come? Shall they be withdrawn from Banks, or Grant, or Steele, or 
Eosecrans ? 

Few tilings have been so grateful to my anxious feelings, as when, in 
June hist, the local force in Missouri aided General Schofield to so 
promptly send a large general force to the relief of General Grant, then 
investing Vicksburg, and menaced from without by General Johnston. 
"Was this all wrong? Should the Enrolled Militia then have been broken 
up, and General Heron kept from Grant to police Missouri ? So far from 
finding cause to object, I confess to a sympathy for whatever relieves our 
general force in Missouri, and allows it to serve elsewhere. 

I therefore, as at present advised, cannot attempt the destruction of 
the Enrolled Militia of Missouri. I may add, that the force being under 
the National military control, it is also within the proclamation in regard 
to the habeas corpus. 

I concur in the propriety of your request in regard to elections, and 
have, as you see, directed General Schofield accordingly. I do not feel 
justified to enter upon the broad field you present in regard to the politi- 
cal differences between Radicals and Conservatives. From time to time I 
have done and said what appeared to me proper to do and say. The 
public knows it well. It obliges nobody to follow me, and I trust it 
obliges me to follow nobody. The Radicals and Conservatives each 
agree with me in some things and disagree in others. I could wish both 
to agree with me in all things; for then they would agree with each 
other, and would be too strong for any foe from any quarter. They, 
however, choose to do otherwise, and I do not question their rignt. I, 
too, shall do what seems to be my duty. I hold whoever commands in 
Missouri or elsewhere responsible to me, and not to either Radicals or 
Conservatives. It is my duty to hear all ; but, at last, I must, within my 
sphere, judge what to do and what to forbear. 

Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 



INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL SCHOFIELD. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, October 1, 1S63. 
General Jonx M. Schofield : 

There is no organized military force in avowed opposition to the Gen- 
eral Government now m Missouri, and if any shall reappear, your duty in 
regard to it will be too plain to require any special instruction. Still, 
the condition of things, both there and elsewhere, is such as to render 
it indispensable to maintain, for a time, the United States military estab- 
lishment in that State, as well as to rely upon it for a fair contribution 
of support to that establishment generally. Your immediate duty in 
regard to Missouri now is to advance the efficiency of that establishment, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 437 

and to so use it, as far as practicable, to compel the excited people there 
to let one another alone. 

Under your recent order, which I have approved, you will only arrest 
individuals, and suppress assemblies or newspapers, when they maybe 
working palpable injury to the military in your charge; and in no other 
case will you interfere with the expression of opinion in any form, or 
allow it to be interfered with violently by others. In this you have a 
discretion to exercise with great caution, calmness, and forbearauce. 

With the matter of removing the inhabitants of certain counties en 
masse, and of removing certain individuals from time to time, who are 
supposed to be mischievous, I am not now interfering, but am leaving to 
your own discretion. 

Nor am I interfering with what may still seem to you to be necessary 
restrictions upon trade and intercourse. I think proper, however, to 
enjoin upon you the following: Allow no part of the military under 
your command to be engaged in either returning fugitive slaves, or in 
forcing or enticing slaves from their homes; and, so far as practicable, 
enforce the same forbearance upon the people. 

Report to me your opinion upon the availability for good of the en- 
rolled militia of the State. Allow no one to enlist colored troops, except 
upon orders from you, or from here through you. 

Allow no one to assume the functions of confiscating property, under 
the law of Congress, or otherwise, except upon orders from here. 

At elections see that those, and only those, are allowed to vote, who 
are entitled to do so by the laws of Missouri, including as of those laws 
the restrictions laid by the Missouri Convention upon those who may 
have participated in the rebellion. 

So far as practicable, you will, by means of your military force, expel 
guerrillas, marauders, and murderers, and all who are known to harbor, 
aid, or abet them. But in like manner you will repress assumptions of 
unauthorized individuals to perform the same service, because under pre- 
tence of doing this they become marauders and murderers themselves. 

To now restore peace, let the military obey orders; and those not of 
the military leave each other alone, thus not breaking the peace them- 
selves. 

In giving the above directions, it is not intended to restrain you in 
other expedient and necessary matters not falling within their range. 

Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 

The condition of affairs in this department continued to 
"be greatly disturbed by political agitations, and the per- 
sonal controversies to which they gave rise ; and after a 
lapse of some months tli* 3 * President deemed it wise to 
relieve General Schofield from further command in this 
department. This was done by an order from the War 



438 The Life, Public Services, and 

Department, dated January 24th, 18G4, "by which, also, 
General Rosecrans was appointed in his place. In hig 
order assuming command, dated January 30th, General 
Rosecrans paid a very high compliment to his predeces- 
sor, for the admirable order in which he found the business 
of the department, and expressed the hope that he might 
receive "the honest, firm, and united support of all true 
national and Union men of the Department, without 
regard to politics, creed, or party, in his endeavors to 
maintain law and re-establish peace, and secure pros- 
perity throughout its limits." 

Before closing this notice of the perplexities and an- 
noyances to which the President was subjected by the 
domestic contentions of Missouri, we may mention, as an 
illustration of the extent to which they were carried, the 
case of Rev. Dr. McPheeters, who had been silenced by 
General Curtis for preaching disloyalty to his congrega- 
tion in St. Louis. The incident gave rise to a good deal 
of excitement, which was continued throughout the year. 
Towards the close of it the President wrote the following 
letter in reply to an appeal for his interference : — 

EzEfiUTrvB Mansion, "Washington, December 23, 1SG3. 

I have just looked over a petition signed by some three dozen citizens 
of St. Louis, and their accompanying letters, one by yourself, one by a 
Mr. Nathan Ranney, and one by a Mr. John D. Ooalter, the whole rela- 
ting to the Rev. Dr. McPheeters. The petition prays, in the name of 
justice and mercy, that I will restore Dr. McPheeters to all his ecclesias- 
tical rights. 

This gives no intimation as to what ecclesiastical rights are withdrawn. 
Your letter states that Provost-Marshal Dick, about a year ago, ordered 
the arrest of Dr. McPheeters, pastor of the Vine Street Church, pro- 
hibited him from officiating, and placed the management of affairs of the 
church out of the control of the chosen trustees ; and near the close you 
state that a certain course "would insure his release." Mr. Ranney'a 
letter says: "Dr. Samuel McPheeters is enjoying all the rights of a civil- 
ian, but cannot preach the Gospel!" Mr. Coalter, in his letter, asks: 
"Is it not a strange illustration of the condition of things, that the ques- 
tion who shall be allowed to preach in a church in St. Louis shall be de- 
cided by the President of the United States?" 

Now, all this sounds very strangely; and, withal, a little as if you 
gentlemen, making the application, do not understand the case alike; 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 439 

one affirming that his doctor is enjoying all the rights of a civilian, anil 
another pointing out to me what will secure his release! On the 2d of 
January last, I wrote to General Curtis in relation to Mr. Dick's order 
upon Dr. McPheeters ; and, as I suppose the doctor is enjoying all the 
rights of a civilian, I only quote that part of my letter which relates to 
the church. It was as follows : "But I must add that the United States 
Government must not, as by this order, undertake to run the churches. 
"When an individual, in a church or out of it, becomes dangerous to the 
public interest, he must be checked ; but the churches, as such, must 
take care of themselves. It will not do for the United States to appoint 
trustees, supervisors, or other agents for the churches." 

This letter going to General Curtis, then in command, I supposed, of 
course, it was obeyed, especially as I heard no further complaint from 
Doctor Mc. or his friends for nearly an entire year. I have never inter- 
fered, nor thought of interfering, as to who shall or shall not preach in 
any church ; nor have I knowingly or believingly tolerated any one else 
to interfere by my authority. If any one is so interfering by color of my 
authority, I would like to have it specifically made known to me. 

If, after all, what is now sought, is to have me put Doctor Mc. back 
over the heads of a majority of his own congregation, that, too, will be 
declined. I will not have control of an^y church on any side. 

A. Lincoln. 

The Presbytery, the regular church authority in the 
matter, subsequently decided that Dr. McPheeters could 
not return to his pastoral charge. 



The victories of the Union arms during the summer of 
1863 — the repulse of the rebels at Gettysburg, the cap- 
ture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and the consequent 
restoration of the Mississippi to the commerce of the 
nation — produced the most salutary effect upon th a public 
sentiment of the country. There was a good deal of 
partisan opposition to specific measures of the Adminis- 
tration, and in some quarters this took the form of open 
hostility to the further prosecution of the war. But the 
spirit and determination of the people were at their 
height, and the Union party entered upon the political 
contests of the autumn of 1863, in the several States, 
with confidence and courage. 

The President had been invited by the .Republican State 
Committee of Illinois to attend the State Convention, to 



440 The Life, Public Services, and 

be held at Springfield on the 3d of September. Finding 
it impossible to accept the invitation, he wrote in reply 
the following letter, in which several of the most con- 
spicuous features of his policy are defended against the 
censures by which they had been assailed : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, August 2G, 1S63. 

Hon. James C. Coxklixg : 

My Dear Sir; — Your letter inviting me to attend amass meeting of 
unconditional Union men, to be held at the capital of Illinois, on the 3d 
day of September, has been received. It would be very agreeable for me 
thus to meet my old friends at my own home'; but I cannot just now be 
absent from here so long as a visit there would require. 

The meeting is to be of all those who maintain unconditional devotion 
to the Union ; and* I am sure that my old political friends will thank me 
for tendering, as I do, the nation's gratitude to those other noble men 
whom no partisan malice or partisan hope can make false to the nation's 
life. 

There are those who are dissatisfied with me. To such I would say: 
You desire peace, and you blame me that we do not have it. But how 
can we attain it? There are but three conceivable ways: First — to sup- 
press the rebellion by force of arms. This I am trying to do. Are you 
for it? If you are, so far we are agreed. If you are not for it, a second 
way is to give up the Union. I am against this. Are you for it? If you 
are, you should say so plainly. If you are not for/brce, nor yet for dis- 
solution, there only remains some imaginable compromise. 

I do not believe that any compromise embracing the maintenance of 
the Union is now possible. All that I learn leads to a directly opposite 
belief. The strength of the rebellion is its military, its army. That army 
dominates all the country, and all the people, within its range. Any offer 
of terms made by any man or men within that range, in opposition to 
that army, is simply nothing for the present ; because such man or men 
have no power whatever to enforce their side of a compromise, if one 
were made with them. 

To illustrate: Suppose refugees from the South and peace men of the 
North get together in convention', and frame and r"oclaim a compromise 
embracing a restoration of the Union. In what .vay can that compro- 
mise be used to keep Lee's army out of Pennsylvania? Meade's army 
can keep Lee's army out of Pennsylvania, and, I think, can ultimately 
drive it out of existence. But no paper compromise to which the con- 
trollers of Lee's army are not agreed can at all affect that army. In an 
effort at such compromise we would waste time, which the enemy would 
improve to our disadvantage; and that would lie all. 

A compromise, to be effective, must be made either with those who 
control the rebel army, or with the people, first liberated from the domi- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 441 

nation of that army by the success of our own army. Now, allow me to 
assure you that no word or intimation from that rebel army, or from any 
of the men controlling it, in relation to any peace compromise, lias ever 
come to my knowledge or belief. All charges and insinuations to the 
contrary are deceptive and groundless. And I promise yon that if any 
such proposition shall hereafter come, it shall not be rejected and kept a 
secret from you. I freely acknowledge myself to be the servant of the 
people, according to the bond of service, the United States Constitution; 
and that, as such, I am responsible to them. 

But, to he plain. You are dissatisfied with me about the negro. 
Quite likely there is a difference of opinion between you and myself upon 
that subject. I certainly wish that all men could be free, while you, I 
suppose, do not. Yet, I have neither adopted nor proposed any measure 
which is not consistent with even your view, provided that you are for 
the Union. I suggested compensated emancipation; to which you re- 
plied you wished not be taxed to buy negroes. But I had not asked you 
to be taxed to buy negroes, except in such way as to save you from greater 
taxation to save the Union exclusively by other means. 

You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and perhaps would have 
it retracted. You say it is unconstitutional. I think differently. I think 
the Constitution invests its Commauder.-in-Chief with the law of war in 
time of war. The most that can be said, if so much, is, that slaves are 
property. Is there, has there ever been, any qxiestion that by the law of 
war. property, both of enemies and friends, may be taken when needed? 
And is it not needed whenever it helps us and hurts the enemy? Armies, I 
the world over, destroy enemies' property when they cannct use it ; and 
even destroy their own to keep it from the enemy. Civilized belligerents 
do all in their power to help themselves or hurt the enemy, except a few 
things regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among the exceptions are the 
massacre of vanquished foes and non-combatants, male and female. 

But the Proclamation, as law, either is valid or is not valid. If it is 
not valid it needs no retraction. If it is valid it cannot be retracted, any 
more than the dead can be brought to life. Some, of yon profess to think 
its retraction would operate favorably for the Union. Why better after 
the retraction than before the issue? There was more than a year and a 
half of trial to suppress the rebellion before the Proclamation was issued, 
the last one hundred days of which passed under an explicit notice that 
it was coming, unless averted by those in revolt returning to their 
allegiance. The war has certainly progressed as favorably for us since 
the issue of the Proclamation as before. 

I know, as fully as one can know the opinions of others, that some of 
the commanders of our armies in the field, who have given us our most 
important victories, believe the Emancipation policy and the use of 
colored troops constitute the heaviest blows yet dealt to the rebellion, 
and that at least one of those important successes could not have been / 
achieved when it was but for the aid of black soldiers. 



442 The Life, Public Services, and 

Among the commanders who hold these views are some who hare 
never had any affinity with what is called "Abolitionism," or with 

"Republican party polities," but who hold them purely as military 
opinions. I submit their opinions as entitled to some weight against the 
objections often urged that emancipation and arming the blacks are 
unwise as military measures, and were not adopted as such in good 
faith. 

You say that you will not fight to free negroes. Some of them seem 
Willing to fight for you ; but no matter. Fight you, then, exclusively, to 
save the Union. I issued the Proclamation on purpose to aid you in 
saving the Union. Whenever you shall have conquered all resistance to 
the Union, if I shall urge you to continue fighting, it will be an apt time 
then for you to declare you will not fight to free negroes. I thought that 
in your struggle for the Union, to whatever extent the negroes should 
cease helping the enemy, to that extent it weakened the enemy in his re 
sistance to you. Do you think differently? I thought that whatever 
negroes can be got to do as soldiers, leaves just so much less for white 
soldiers to do in saving the Union. Does it appear otherwise to you? 
But negroes, like other people, act upon motives. Why should they do 
any thing for us if we will do nothing for them? If they stake their lives 
for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive, even the promise 
of freedom. And the promise, being made, must be kept. 

The signs look better. The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to 
the sea. Thanks to the great Northwest for it; nor yet wholly to them. 
Three hundred miles up they met New-England, Empire. Keystone, and 
Jersey, hewing their way right and left. The sunny South, too, in more 
colors than one, also lent a helping hand. On the spot, their part of tho 
history was jotted down in black and white. The job was a great national 
one, and let none be slighted who bore an honorable part in it. And 
while those who have cleared the great river may well lie proud, even 
that is not all. It is hard to say that any thing has been more bravely and 
well done than at Antietam, Murfreesboro', Gettysburg, and on many 
fields of less note. Nor must Uncle Sam's web feet be forgotten. At all 
the watery margins they have been present, not only on the deep sea, the 
broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy bayou, 
and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been and made 
their tracks. Thanks to all. For the great Republic — for the principle 
it lives by and keeps alive — for man's vast future — thanks to all. 

Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come soon, 
and come to stay; and so come as to be worth the keeping in all future 
time. It will then have been proved that among freemen there can he 
no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet, and that they who take 
such appeal are sure to lose their case and pay the cost. And there will 
be some black men who can remember that with silent tongue, and 
clinched teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, they have 
helped mankind on to this great consummation, while I fear there will 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 443 

be some white ones unable to forget that with malignant heart and de- 
ceitful speech they have striven to hinder it. 

Still, let ns not be over-sanguine of a speedy, final triumph. Let us be 
quite sober. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that a 
just God, in llis own good time, will give us the rightful result. 

Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. 

The result of the canvass justified the confidence of the 
friends of the Administration. Every State in which elec- 
tions were held, with the single exception of New Jersey, 
voted to sustain the Government ; and in all the largest 
and most important States the majorities were so large as 
to make the result of more than ordinary significance. In 
Ohio, Vallandigham, who had "been put in nomination 
mainly on account of the issue he had made with the 
Government in the matter of his arrest, was defeated by a 
majority of nearly one hundred thousand. New York, 
which had elected Governor Seymour the year before, 
and had been still further distinguished and disgraced by 
the anti-draft riots of July, gave a majority of not far from 
thirty thousand for the Administration ; and Pennsyl- 
vania, in spite of the personal participation of General 
McClellan in the canvass against him, re-elected Governor 
Curtin by about the same majority. These results fol- 
lowed a very active and earnest canvass, in which the 
opponents of the Administration put forth their most 
vigorous efforts for its defeat. The ground taken by its 
friends in every State was that which had been held by 
the President from the beginning — that the rebellion must 
be suppressed and the Union preserved, at whatever cost 
— that this could only be done by force, and that it was 
not only the right, but the duty, of the Government to use 
all the means at its command, not incompatible with the 
laws of war and the usages of civilized nations, for the 
accomplishment of this result. They vindicated the action 
of the Government in the matter of arbitrary arrests, and 
sustained throughout the canvass, in every State, the 
policy of the President in regard to slavery and in issuing 
the Proclamation of Emancipation as a military measure, 
against the vehement and earnest efforts of the Opposition, 



441 The Life, Public Services, and 

The result was, therefore, justly claimed as a decided 
verdict of the people iu support of the Government. It 
was so regarded "by all parties throughout the country, 
and its effect upon their action was of marked importance. 
While it gave renewed vigor and courage to the friends 
of the Administration everywhere, it developed the divi- 
sion of sentiment in the ranks of the Opposition, which, 
in its incipient stages, had largely contributed to their 
defeat. The majority of that party were inclined to 
acquiesce in the deliberate judgment of the country, that 
the rebellion could be subdued only by successful war, 
and to sustain the Government in whatever measures 
might be deemed necessary for its effectual prosecution :— 
but the resolute resistance of some of its more conspicuous 
leaders withheld them from open action in this direc- 
tion. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CONGRESS OF 1863-4.— MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT.— ACTION 
OF THE SESSION.— PROGRESS IN RAISING TROOPS. 

The President's Message. — The Proclamation of Amnesty. — Explan- 
atory Proclamation. — Debate on Slavery. — Call for Troops. — 
General Blair's Resignation. — Diplomatic Correspondence. — Oue 
Relations with England. — France and Mexico. — The President 
and the Monroe Doctrine. 

Congress met on Monday, December 7, 1863. The 
House of Representatives was promptly organized by the 
election of Hon. Schuyler Colfax, a Republican from In- 
diana, to be Speaker — he receiving one hundred and one 
votes out of one hundred and eighty-one, the whole num- 
ber cast. Mr. Cox, of Ohio, was the leading candidate 
of the Democratic opposition, but he received only fifty- 
one votes, the remaining twenty-nine being divided among 
several Democratic members. In the Senate, the Sena- 
tors from West Virginia were admitted to their seats by 
a vote of thirty-six to five. 

On the 9th, the President transmitted to both Houses 
the following Message : — 

Fellow- Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

Another year of health and of sufficiently abundant harvests has 
passed. Fur these, and especially for the improved condition of our na> 
tional affairs, our renewed and profoundest gratitude to God is due. We 
remain in peace and friendship with foreign Powers. The efforts of dis- 
loyal citizens of the United States to involve us in foreign wars to aid an* 
inexcusable insurrection have been unavailing. Her Britannic Majesty's 
Government, as was justly expected, have exercised their authority to 
prevent the departure of new hostile expeditions from British ports. 

The Emperor of France has, by a like proceeding, prom] tly vindicated 
the neutrality which he proclaimed at the beginning of the contest. 

Questions of great intricacy and importance have arisen out of the 
blockade, and other belligerent operations, between the Government and 
►several of the maritime Powers, but they have been discussed, and, as 



446 The Life, Public Services, and 

far as was possible, accommodated in a spirit of frankness, justice, and 
mutual good-will. 

It is especially gratifying that our prize courts, by the impartiality of 
their adjudications, have commanded the respect and confidence of mari- 
time Powers. 

The supplemental treaty between the United States and Great Britain 
for the suppression of the African slave-trade, made on the 17th day of 
February last, has been duly ratified and carried into execution. It is 
believed that so far as American ports and American citizens are con 
cerned, that inhuman and od.ous trafiic has been brought so an end. 

I have thought it proper, subject to the approval of the Senate, to 
concur with the interested commercial Powers, in an arrangement for 
the liquidation of the Scheldt dues, upon the principles which have been 
heretofore adopted in regard to the imposts upon navigation in the waters 
of Denmark. 

The long-pending controversy between this Government and that of 
Chili, touching the seizure at Sitana, in Peru, by Chilian officers, of a 
large amount in treasure, belonging to citizens of the United States, has 
been brought to a close by the award of His Majesty the King of the 
Belgians, to whose arbitration the question was referred by the parties. 

The subject was thoroughly and patiently examined by that justly 
respected magistrate, and although the sum awarded to the claimants 
may not have been as large as they expected, there is no reason to dis- 
trust the wisdom of His Majesty's decision. That decision was promptly 
complied with by Chili when intelligence in regard to it reached that 
country. 

The Joint Commission, under the act of the last session for carrying 
into effect the Convention with Peru on the subject of claims, has been 
organized at Lima, and is engaged in the business intrusted to it. 

Difficulties concerning interoceanic transit through Nicaragua are in 
course of amicable adjustment. 

In conformity with principles set forth in my last Annual Message, I 
have received a representative from the United States of Colombia, and 
have accredited a Minister to that Republic. 

Incidents occurring in the progress of our civil war have forced upon 
my attention the uncertain state of international questions touching the 
rights of foreigners in this country and of United States citizens abroad. 

In regard to some Governments, these rights are at least partially de- 
fined by treaties. In no instance, however, is it expressly stipulated that 
in the event of civil war a foreigner residing in this country, within the 
lines of the insurgents, is to be exempted from the rule which classes 
him as a belligerent, in whose behalf the Government of his country can- 
not expect any privileges or immunities distinct from that character. I 
regret to say, however, that such claims have been put forward, and, in 
some instances, in behalf of foreigners who have lived in the United 
States the greater part of their lives. 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. 447 

There is reason to believe that many persons born in foreign countries, 
who have declared their intention to become citizens, or who have been 
fully naturalized, have evaded the military duty required of them by 
denying the fact, and thereby throwing upon the Government the burden 
of proof. It has been found difficult or impracticable to obtain this 
proof, from the want of guides to the proper sources of information. 
These might be supplied by requiring clerks of courts, where declarations 
of intention may be made, or naturalizations effected, to send periodically 
lists of the names of the persons naturalized, or declaring their intention 
to become citizens, to the Secretary of the Interior, in whose depart- 
ment those names might be arranged and printed for general information. 
There is also reason to believe that foreigners frequently become citizens 
of the United States for the sole purpose of evading duties imposed by 
the laws of their native countries, to which, on becoming naturalized 
here, they at once repair, and though never returning to the United 
States, they still claim the interposition of this Government as citizens. 

Many altercations and great prejudices have heretofore arisen out of 
this abuse. It is, therefore, submitted to your serious consideration. It 
might lie advisable to fix a limit beyond which no citizen of the United 
States residing abroad may claim the interposition of his Government. 

The right of suffrage has often been assumed and exercised by aliens 
under pretences of naturalization, which they have disavowed when 
drafted into the military service. 

Satisfactory arrangements have been made with the Emperor of Rus- 
sia, which, it is believed, will result in effecting a continuous line of tele- 
graph through that empire from our Pacific coast 

I recommend to your favorable consideration the subject of an inter- 
national telegraph across the Atlantic Ocean, and also of a telegraph be- 
tween this capital and the national forts along the Atlantic seaboard and 
the Gulf of Mexico. Such communications, established with any rea- 
sonable outlay, would be economical as well as effective aids to the diplo- 
matic, military, and naval service. 

The Consular system of the United States, under the enactments of 
the last Congress, begins to be self-sustaining, and there is reason to hope 
that it may become entirely so with the increase of trade, which will 
ensue whenever peace is restored. 

Our Ministers abroad have been faithful in defending American rights. 
In protecting commercial interests, our Consuls have necessarily had to 
encounter increased labors and responsibilities growing out of the war. 
These they have, for the most part, met and discharged with zeal and 
efficiency. This acknowledgment justly includes those Consuls who, 
residing in Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, China, and other Oriental 
countries, are charged with complex functions and extraordinary powers. 

The condition of the several organized Territories is generally satisfac- 
tory, although Indian disturbances in New Mexico have not been entirely 
suppressed. 



448 The Life, Public Services, and 

The mineral resources of Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, New Mexico, and 
Arizona, are proving far richer than has been heretofore understood. I 
lay before you a communication on this subject from the Governor of 
New Mexico. I again submit to your consideration the expediency of 
establishing a system for the encouragement of emigration. Although 
this source of national wealth and strength is again flowing with greater 
freedom than for several years before the insurrection occurred, there is 
still a great deficiency of laborers in every field of industry, especially in 
agriculture and in our mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious 
metals. While the demand for labor is thus increased here, tens of 
thousands of persons, destitute of remunerative occupation, are throng- 
ing our foreign consulates, and offering to emigrate to the United States, 
if essential, but very cheap, assistance can be afforded them. It is easy 
to see that under the sharp discipline of civil war the nation is beginning 
a new life. This noble effort demands the aid, and ought to receive the 
attention and support, of the Government. 

Injuries unforeseen by the Government, and unintended, may in some 
cases have been inflicted on the subjects or citizens of foreign countries, 
both at sea and on land, by persons in the service of the United States. 
As this Government expects redress from other Powers when similar 
injuries are inflicted by persons in their service upon citizens of the 
United States, we must be prepared to do justice to foreigners. If the 
existing judicial tribunals are inadequate to this purpose, a special court 
may be authorized, with power to hear and decide such claims of the 
character referred to as may have arisen under treaties and the public 
law. Conventions for adjusting the claims by joint commission have 
been proposed to some Governments, but no definite answer to the prop- 
osition has yet been received from any. 

In the course of the session I shall probably have occasion to request 
you to provide indemnification to claimants where decrees of restitution 
have been rendered, and damages awarded by Admiralty Courts; and in 
other cases, where this Government may be acknowledged to be liable in 
principle, and where the amount of that liability has been ascertained by 
an informal arbitration, the proper officers of the Treasury have deemed 
themselves required by the law of the United States upon the subject, to 
demand a tax upon the incomes of foreign Consuls in this country. AVhilo 
such a demand may not, in strictness, be in derogation of public law, or 
perhaps of any existing treaty between the United States and a foreign 
country, the expediency of so far modifying the act as to exempt from 
tax the income of such Consuls as are not citizens of the United States, 
derived from the emoluments of their office, or from property not situate 
in the United States, is submitted to your serious consideration. I make 
this suggestion upon the ground that a comity which ought to be recip- 
rocated exempts our Consuls in all other countries from taxation to the 
extent thus indicated. The United States, I think, ought not to be ex- 
ceptionally illiberal to international trade and commerce. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 449 

The operations of the Treasury during the last year have heen success- 
fully conducted. The enactment hy Congress of a National Bankirg 
Law has proved a valuable support of the public credit, and the general 
legislation in relation to loans has fully answered tlie expectation of it? 
favorers. Some amendments may he required to perfect existing laws, 
but no change in their principles or general scope is believed to be needed. 
Since these measures have been in operation, all demands on the Treas- 
ury, including the pay of the army and navy, have been promptly met 
and fully satisfied. No considerable body of troops, it is believed, were 
ever more amply provided and more liberally and punctually paid; and, 
it may be added, that by no people were the burdens incident to a great 
war more cheerfully borne. 

The receipts during the year, from all sources, including loans and the 
balance in the Treasury at its commencement, were $901, 125,074 8G, and 
the aggregate disbursements $895,796,630 05, leaving a balance on the 
1st of July, 1803, of $5,329,044 21. Of the receipts, there were derived 
from customs $69,059,642 40; from internal revenue, $37,640,787 95, 
from direct tax, $1,485,103 61; from lands, $107,017 17; from miscel- 
laneous sources, $3,046,015 35; and from loans, $770,082,301 57: making 
the aggregate $901,125,674 8G. Of the disbursements, there were for the 
civil service $23,253,922 08; for pensions and Indians, $4,210,520 79; for 
interest on public debt, $24,729,846 51 ; for the War Department, $599,- 
298,600 83; for the Navy Department, $03,211,105 27 ; for payment of 
funded and temporary debt, $181,086,035 07 : making the aggregate $895,- 
790,030 05, and leaving the balance of $5,329,044 21. 

But the payment of the funded and temporary debt, having been made 
from moneys borrowed during the year, must be regarded as merely nom- 
inal payments, and the moneys borrowed to make them as merely nomi- 
nal receipts; and their amount, $181,086,535 07, should therefore be 
deducted both from receipts and disbursements. This being done, there 
remains, as actual receipts, $720,039,039 79, and the actual disbursements 
$714,709,995 58, leaving the balance as already stated. 

The actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter, and the esti- 
mated receipts and disbursements for the remaining three quarters of the 
current fiscal year, 1864, will be shown in detail by the report of the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury, to which I invite your attention. 

It is sufficient to say here, that it is not believed that actual results will 
exhibit a state of the finances less favorable to the country than the esti- 
mates of that officer heretofore submitted, while it is confidently expected 
that, at the close of the year, both disbursements and debt will be found 
very considerably less than has been anticipated. 

The report of the Secretary of War is a document of great interest. It 
consists of— • 

First. — The military operations of the year detailed in the report of the 
General-in-Chief. 

Second. — The organization of colored persons into the war service. 
20 



450 The Life, Public Services, and 

Third. — The exchange of prisoners, fully set forth in the letter of Gen- 
eral Hitchcock. 

Fourth. — The operations under the act for enrolling and calling out the 
national forces, detailed in the report of the Provost-Marshal General. 

Fifth. — The organization of the Invalid Corps. And — 

Sixth. — The operations of the several departments of the Quartermaster- 
General, Commissary-General, Paymaster-General, Chief of Engineers, 
Chief of Ordnance, and Surgeon-General. It has appeared impossible to 
make a valuable summary of this report, except such as would be too ex- 
tended for this place,' and hence I content myself by asking your carefuJ 
attention to the report itself. The duties devolving on the naval branch 
of the service during the year, and throughout the whole of this unhappy 
contest, have been discharged with fidelity and eminent success. Tlie ex- 
tensive blockade has been constantly increasing in efficiency, as the navy 
has expanded, yet on so long a line it has, so far, been impossible entirely 
to suppress illicit trade. From returns received at the Navy Department, 
it appears that more than one thousand vessels have been captured since 
the blockade was instituted, an that the value of prizes already sent in 
lor adjudication amount to over thirten millions of -dollars. 

The naval force of the United States consists at this time of live hundred 
and eighty-eight vessels completed and in the course of completion, and 
of these seventy-five are iron-clad or armored steamers. The events of 
the war give an increased interest and importance to the navy, which will 
probably extend beyond the war itself. The armored vessels in our navy, 
completed and in service, or which are under contract and approaching 
completion, are believed to exceed in number those of any other Power ; 
but while these may be relied upon for harbor defence and coast service, 
others of greater strength and capacity will be necessary for cruising pur- 
poses, and to maintain our rightful position on the ocean. 

The change that has taken place in naval vessels and naval warfare since 
the introduction of steam as a motive power for ships of war, demands 
either a corresponding change in some of our existing navy-yards, or the 
establishment of new ones, for the construction and necessary repair of 
modern naval vessels. No inconsiderable embarrassment, delay, and pub- 
lic injury, have been experienced from the want of such governmental 
establishments. 

The necessity »f such a navy-yard, so furnished, at some suitable place 
upon the Atlantic seaboard, has, on repeated occasions, been brought to 
the attention of Congress by the Navy Department, and is again presented 
in the report of the - Secretary, which accompanies this communication. I 
think it my duty to invite your special attention to this subject, and also 
to that of establishing a yard and depot for naval purposes upon one of 
the Western rivers. A naval force has been created on "these interior 
waters, and under many disadvantages, within a little more than two 
years, exceeding in number the whole naval force of the country at the 
commencement of the present Administration. Satisfactory and important 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 451 

as have been the performances of the heroic men of the navy at tnis in- 
teresting period, they are scarcely more wonderful than the success of our 
mechanics and artisans in the production of war-vessels, which has created 
a new form of naval power. 

Our country has advantages superior to any other nation in our resources 
of iron and timber, with inexhaustible quantities of fuel in the immediate 
vicinity of both, and all available and in close proximity to navigable 
waters. "Without the advantage of public works, the resources of the 
nation have been developed, and its power displayed, in the const ruction 
of a navy of such magnitude, which has at the very period of its creation 
rendered signal service to the Union. 

The increase of the number of seamen in the public service from seven 
thousand five hundred men in the spring of 1861, to about thirty-four 
thousand at the present time, has been accomplished without special legis- 
lation or extraordinary bounties to promote that increase. It has been 
found, however, that the operation of the draft, with the high bounties 
paid for army recruits, is beginning to affect injuriously the naval service, 
and will, if not corrected, be likely to impair its efficiency by detaching 
seamen from their proper vocation, and inducing them to enter the army. 
I therefore respectfully suggest that Congress might aid both the army 
and naval service by a definite provision on this subject, which would at 
the same time be equitahle to the communities more especially interested. 

I commend to your consideration the suggestions of the Secretary of the 
Navy, in regard to the policy of fostering and training seamen, and also 
the education of officers and engineers for the naval service. The Naval 
Academy is rendering signal service in preparing midshipmen for the 
highly responsible duties which in after-life they will be required to per- 
form. In order that the country should not be deprived of the proper 
quota of educated officers, for which legal provision has been made at the 
naval school, the vacancies caused by the neglect or omission to make 
nominations from the States in insurrection, have been filled by the Secre- 
tary of the Navy. The school is now more full and complete than at any 
former period, and in every respect entitled to the favorable consideration 
of Congress. 

During the last fiscal year the financial condition of the Post-Office De- 
partment has been one of increasing prosperity, and lam gratified in being 
able to state that the actual postal revenue has nearly equalled the entire 
expenditures, the latter amounting to $11,314,206 84, and the former to 
$11,163,789 59, leaving a deficiency of but $150,417 25. In I860, the 
year immediately preceding the rebellion, the deficiency amounted to 
$5,656,705 49, the postal receipts for that year being $2, ('.47,225 19 less 
than those of 1863. The decrease since 1860 in the annual amount of 
transportation has been only about 25 per cent. ; but the annual expendi- 
ture on account of the same has been reduced 35 per cent. It is manifest, 
therefore, that the Post-Office Department may become self-sustaining in 
a few years, even with the restoration of the whole service. 



452 The Life, Public Services, and 

The international conference of postal delegates from the principal 
countries of Europe and America, which was called at the suggestion of 
the Postmaster-General, met at Paris on the 11th of May last, and con- 
cluded its deliberations on the 8th of June. The principles established 
by the conference as best adapted to facilitate postal intercourse between 
nations, and as the basis of future postal conventions, inaugurates a gen- 
eral system of uniform international charges at reduced rates of postage, 
and cannot fail to produce beneficial results. I refer you to the Report 
of the Secretary of the Interior, which is herewith laid before you, for 
useful and varied information in relation to Public Lands, Indian Affairs, 
Patents, Pensions, and other matters of the public concern pertaining to 
his department. 

The quantity of land disposed of during the last and the first quarter 
of the present fiscal year was three million eight hundred and forty- 
one thousand five hundred and forty-nine acres, of which one hundred 
and sixty-one thousand nine hundred and eleven acres were sold for cash. 
One million four hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred and four- 
teen acres were taken up under the Homestead Law, and the residue dis- 
posed of under laws granting lands for military bounties, for railroad and 
other purposes. It also appears that the sale of public lands is largely 
on the increase. 

It has long been a cherished opinion of some of our wisest statesmen 
that the people of the United States had a higher and more enduring in- 
terest in the early settlement and substantial cultivation of the public 
lands than in the amount of direct revenue to be derived from the sale of 
them. This opinion has had a controlling influence in shaping legislation 
upon the subject of our national domain. I may cite, as evidence of this, 
the liberal measures adopted in reference to actual settlers, the grant to 
the States of the overflowed lands within their limits, in order to their 
being reclaimed and rendered fit for cultivation, the grants to railway 
companies of alternate sections of land upon the contemplated lines of 
their roads, which, when completed, will so largely multiply the facilities 
for reaching our distant possessions. This policy has received its most 
signal and beneficent illustration in the recent enactment granting home- 
steads to actual settlers. Since the first day of January last, the before- 
mentioned quantity of one million four hundred and fifty-six thousand live 
hundred and fourteen acres of land have been taken up under its pro- 
visions. This fact, and the amount of sales, furnish gratifying evidence of 
increasing settlement upon the public lands, notwithstanding the great 
struggle in which the energies of the nation have been engaged, and which 
Las required so large a withdrawal of our citizens from their accustomed 
pursuits, i cordially concur in the recommendation of the Secretary of 
the Interior, suggesting a modification of the act in favor of those engaged 
in the military and naval service of the United States. 

I doubt not that Congress will cheerfully adopt such measures as will, 
without essentially changing the general features of the system, secure to 



State Papers of Abraham Likooln. 453 

the greatest practical extent its benefits to those who have left their 
homes in defence of the country in this arduous crisis. 

I invite your attention to the views of the Secretary as to the propriety 
of raising, by appropriate legislation, a revenue from the mineral lands of 
the United States. The measures provided at your last session for the 
removal of certain Indian tribes have been carried into eftect. Sundry 
treaties have been negotiated, which will, in due time, be submitted for 
the constitutional action of the Senate. They contain stipulations for ex- 
tinguishing the possessory rights of the Indians to large and valuable 
tracts of lands. It is hoped that the eftect of these treaties will result in 
the establishment of permanent friendly relations with such of these 
tribes as have been brought into frequent and bloody collision with our 
outlying settlements and emigrants. Sound policy, and our imperative 
duty to these wards of the Government, demand our anxious and con- 
stant attention to their material well-being, to their progress in the arts 
of civilization, and, above all, to that moral training which, under the 
blessing of Divine Providence, will confer upon them the elevated and 
sanctifying influences, the hopes and consolations of the Christian faith. 
I suggested in my last Annual Message the propriety of remodelling our 
Indian system. Subsequent events have satisfied me of its necessity. 
The details set forth in the report of the Secretary evince the urgent need 
for immediate legislative action. 

I commend the benevolent institutions, established or patronized by the 
Government in this District, to your generous and fostering care. 

The attention of Congress, during the last session, was engaged to some 
extent with a proposition for enlarging the water communication between 
the Mississippi River and the northeastern seaboard, which proposition, 
however, failed for the time. Since then, upon a call of the greatest 
respectability, a convention has been held at Chicago upon the same sub- 
ject, a summary of whose views is contained in a Memorial Address to 
the President and Congress, and which I now have the honor to lay 
before you. That the interest is one which will ere long force its own 
way I do not entertain a doubt, while it is submitted entirely to your 
wisdom as to what can be done now. Augmented interest is given to 
this subject by the actual commencement of work upon the Pacific Rail- 
road, under auspices so favorable to rapid progress and completion. The 
enlarged navigation becomes a palpable need to the great road. 

I transmit the second annual report of the Commissioners of the De 
partment of Agriculture, asking your attention to the developments in 
that vital interest of the nation. 

When Congress assembled a year ago, the war had already lasted nearly 
twenty months, and there had been many conflicts on both land and sea, 
with varying results; the rebellion had been pressed back into reduced 
limits; yet the tone of public feeling and opinion, at home, and abroad, J 
was not satisfactory. With other signs, the popular elections then just 
past indicated uneasiness among ourselves, while, amid much that was 



454 The Life, Public Services, and 

cold and menacing, the kindest words coming from Europe were uttered 
in accents of pity that we were too blind to surrender a hopeless cause. 
Our commerce was suffering greatly by a few vessels built upon and 
furnished from foreign shores, and we were threatened with such addi- 
tions from the same quarters as would sweep our trade from the seas and 
raise our blockade. We had failed to elicit from European Governments 
any thing hopeful upon this subject. 

The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued in September was 
running its assigned period to the beginning of the new year. A month 
later, the final proclamation came, including the announcement that 
colored men of suitable condition would be received in the war service. 
The policy of emancipation and of employing black soldiers gave to the 
future a new aspect, about which hope and fear and doubt contended in 
uncertain conflict. According to our political system, as a matter of civil 
administration, the Government had no lawful power to effect emancipa- 
tion in any State, and for a long time it had been hoped that the rebel- 
lion could be suppressed without resorting to it as a military measure. 
It was all the while deemed possible that the necessity for it might come, 
and that if it should, the crisis of the contest would then be presented. 
It came, and, as was anticipated, was followed by dark and doubtful 
days. 

Eleven months having now passed, we are permitted to take another 
review. The rebel borders are pressed still further back, and by the 
complete opening of the Mississippi, the country dominated by the rebel- 
lion is divided into distinct parts, with no practical communication be- 
tween them. Tennessee and Arkansas have been substantially cleared 
of insurgent control, and influential citizens in each — owners of slaves 
and advocates of slavery at the beginning of the rebellion — now declare 
openly for emancipation in their respective States. Of those States not 
included in the Emancipation Proclamation, Maryland and Missouri, 
neither of which three years ago would tolerate any restraint upon the 
extension of slavery into new Territories, only dispute now as to the best 
mode of removing it within their own limits. 

Of those who were slaves at the beginning of the rebellion, full one 
hundred thousand are now in the United States military service, about 
one-half of which number actually bear arms in the ranks — thus giving 
the double advantage of taking so much labor from the insurgent causa 
and supplying the places which otherwise must be filled with so many 
white men. So far as tested, it is difficult to say they are not as good 
soldiers as any. No servile insurrection or tendency to violence or cruel- 
ty has marked the measures of emancipation and arming the blacks. These 
measures have been much discussed in foreign countries, and, contemporary 
with such discussion, the tone of public sentiment there is much improved. 
At home the same measures have been fully discussed, supported, criticised, 
and denounced, and the annual elections following are highly encouraging 
to those whoso official dutj rt. is to bear the country through this giea 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 455 

trial. Thus we have the new reckoning. The crisis which threatened 
to divide the friends of the Union is past. 

Looking now to the present and future, and with reference to a re- 
sumption of the National authority in the States wherein that authority 
has been suspended, I have thought fit to issue a proclamation — a copy of 
which is herewith transmitted. On examination of this proclamation, it 
will appear, as is believed, that nothing is attempted beyond what is amply 
justified by the Constitution. True, the form of an oath is given, but no 
man is coerced to take it. The man is only promised a pardon in case he 
voluntarily takes the oath. The Constitution authorizes the Executive to 
grant or withdraw the pardon at his own absolute discretion, t.nd this 
includes the power to grant on terms, as is fully established by judicial 
and other authorities. It is also proffered that if in any of the States named 
a State Government shall be in the mode prescribed set up, such govern- 
ment shall be recognized and guaranteed by the United States, and that 
under it the State shall, on the constitutional conditions, be protected 
against invasion and domestic violence. 

The constitutional obligation of the United States to guarantee to every 
State in the Union a republican form of government, and to protect the 
State in the cases stated, is explicit and full. But why tender the benefits 
of this provision only to a State Government set up in this particular way? 
This section of the Constitution contemplates a case wherein the element 
within a State favorable to republican government in the Union may be 
too feeble for an opposite and hostile element external to or even within 
the State, and such are precisely the cases with which we are now 
dealing. 

An attempt to guarantee and protect a revived State Government, 
constructed in whole or in preponderating part from the very element 
against whose hostility and violence it is to be protected, is simply absurd. 
There must be a test by which to separate the opposing elements, so as to 
build only from the sound ; and that test is a sufficiently liberal one which 
accepts as sound whoever will make a sworn recantation of his former 
unsoundness. 

But if it be proper to require, as a test of admission to the political body, 
an oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and to the 
Union under it, why also to the laws and proclamations in regard to 
slavery? 

Those laws and proclamations were enacted and put forth for the pur- 
pose of aiding in the suppression of the rebellion. To give them their 
fullest effect there had to be a pledge for their maintenance. In my judg- 
ment they have aided and will further aid the cause for which they were 
intended. 

To now abandon them would be not only to relinquish a lever of power, 
but would also be a cruel and an astounding breach of faith. 

I may add, at this point, that while I remain in my present position, I 
flhall not attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation, nor 



456 The Life, Public Services, and 

bhall I return to slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proc- 
lamation, or by any of the acts of Congress. 

For tliese and other reasons, it is thought best that support of these 
measures shall be included in the oath, and it is believed that the Exec; 
utive may lawfully claim it in return for pardon and restoration of for- 
feited rights, which he has a clear constitutional power to withhold al- 
together or grant upon the terms which he shall deem wisest for the 
public interest. It should be observed, also, that this part of the oath is 
subject to the modifying and abrogating power of legislation and supreme 
judicial decision. 

The proposed acquiescence of the National Executive in any reasonable 
temporary State arrangement for the freed people, is made with the view 
of possibly modifying the confusion and destitution which must at best 
attend all classes by a total revolution of labor throughout whole States. 
It is hoped that the already deeply afflicted people in those States may 
be somewhat more ready to give up the cause of their affliction, if, to this 
extent, this vital matter be left to themselves, while no power of the Na- 
tional Executive to prevent an abuse is abridged by the proposition. 

The suggestion in the proclamation as to maintaining the political frame- 
work of the States on what is called reconstruction, is made in the hope 
that it may do good, without danger of harm. It will save labor, and 
avoid great confusion. But why any proclamation now upon this subject? 
This question is beset with the conflicting views that the step might be 
delayed too long, or be taken too soon. In some States the elements for 
resumption seem ready for action, but remain inactive, apparently for want 
of a rallying-point— a \>\:.n of action. Why shall A adopt the plan of B, 
rather than B that of A? And if A and B should agree, how can they 
know but that the General Government here Avill reject their plan? By 
the proclamation a plan is presented which may be accepted by them as a 
rallying point — and which they are assured in advance will not be reject- 
ed here. This may bring them to act sooner than they otherwise would. 

The objection to a premature presentation of a plan by the National 
Executive consists in the danger of committals on points which could be 
more safely left to further developments. Care has been taken to so 
shape the document as to avoid embarrassments from this source. Saying 
that on certain terms certain classes will be pardoned with rights restored, 
it is not said that other classes or other terms will never be included. 
Saying that reconstruction will be accepted if presented in a specified way, 
it is not said it will never be accepted in any other way. The move- 
ments by State action for emancipation in several of the States not inclu- 
ded in the Emancipation Proclamation are matters of profound gratulation. 
And while I do not repeat in detail what I have heretofore so earnestly 
urged upon this subject, my general views and feelings remain unchanged; 
and I trust that Congress will omit no fair opportunity of aiding these im- 
portant steps to the great consummation. 

In the midst of other cares, however important, we must not lose sight 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 457 

of the fact that the war power is still our main reliance. To that power 
alone can we look, for a time, to give confidence to the people in the con- 
tested regions, that the insurgent power will not again overrun them. 
Until that confidence shall he established, little can be done anywhere for 
what is called reconstruction. Ilence our chiefest care must still he di- 
rected to the army and navy, who have thus far borne their harder part 
so nobly and well. And it may be esteemed fortunate that in giving the 
greatest efficiency to these indispensable arms, we do also honorably 
recognize the gallant men, from commander to sentinel, who compose 
them, and to whom, more than to others, the world must stand indebted 
for the home of freedom, disenthralled, regenerated, enlarged, and per- 
petuated. 

(Signed) Abraham Lincoln. 

December 8, 1863. 

The following proclamation was appended to the Mes- 
sage : — 

PROCLAMATION". 

Whereas, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided 
that the President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for 
offences against tiie United States, except in cases of impeachment; and 
whereas, a rebellion now exists, whereby the loyal State Governments of 
several States have for a long time been subverted, and many persons 
have committed and are now guilty of treason against the United States ; 
and 

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been 
enacted by Congress, declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property 
and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and 
also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time 
thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have partici- 
pated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and 
amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions 
as he may deem expedient for the public welfare ; and 

Whereas, the Congressional declaration for limited and conditional 
pardon accords with the weri-established judicial exposition of the par- 
doning power; and 

Whereas, with reference to the said rebellion, the President of the 
United States has issued several proclamations with provisions in regard 
to the liberation of slaves; and 

Whereas, it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said 
rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to rein- 
angurate loyal State Governments within and for their respective States : 
Therefore, 

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do proclaim, de- 
clare, and make known to all persons who have directly or by implication 
participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that 



458 The -Life, Public Services, and 

a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restora- 
tion of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property eases 
where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition 
that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath and thencefor- 
ward keep and maintain said oath inviolate, an oath which shall be regis- 
tered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and etl'ect 
following, to wit: — 

\ "I, ■ , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, 

/that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Consti- 
tution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder; and 
that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all acts of 
Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, 
so long and so far as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress, or 
by decision of the Supreme Court ; and that I will in like manner abide 
by and faithfully support all proclamations of the President made during 
the existing rebellion having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not 
modified or declared void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help mo 
God." 

i 

The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are : 
All who are, or shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of 
the so-called Confederate Government; all who have left judicial stations 
under the United States to aid the rebellion; all who are, or shall have 
been military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate Govern- 
ment, above the rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in the navy; 
all who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion ; all 
who resigned commissions- in the army or navy of the United States, 
and afterwards aided the rebellion; and all who have engaged in any 
way in treating colored persons, or white persons in charge of such, 
otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which persons may have 
been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen, or any other 
capacity; and I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that, 
whenever, in any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Caro- 
lina, a number of persons not less than one-tenth in number of the votes 
cast in such States at the presidential election of the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid, 
and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the elec- 
tion law of the State existing immediately before the so-called act of 
secession, and excluding all others, shall re-establish a State Government 
which shall be republican, and in nowise contravening said oath, such 
shall be recognized as the true Government of the State, and the State 
6hall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision, which 
declares that 

"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union 
a republican form of government, and shall protect each of th,em 
against invasion, and, on application of the Legislature, or the Execu- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 459 

tive, when the Legislature cannot he convened, against domestic vio- 
lence." 

And I dc further proclaim, declare, and make known, that any pro- 
vision which may he adopted by such State Government in relation to 
the freed people of such State, which shall recognize and declare their 
permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet he 
consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with their present condition as- 
a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not he objected to by tlio 
National Executive. 

And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a loyal State 
Government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the 
subdivisions, the Constitution, and the general code of laws, as before 
the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made 
necessary by the conditions he "em before stated, and such others, if 
any, not contravening said conditions, and which, may be deemed expe- 
dient by those framing the new State Government. To avoid misunder- 
standing, it may be proper to say that this proclamation, so far as it 
relates to State Governments, has no reference to States wherein loyal 
State Governments have all the while been maintained ; and for the 
same reason it may he proper to farther say, that whether members 
sent to Congress from any State shall be admitted to seats, constitution- 
ally rests exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to any extent 
with the Executive. And still further, that this proclamation is intended 
to present the people of the States wherein the national Authority has 
been suspended, and the loyal State Governments have been subverted, a 
mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State Govern- 
ments may be re-established within said States, or in any of them. And, 
while the mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest with his 
present impressions, it must not be understood that no other poscibl* 
mode would he acceptable. 

Given under my hand at the City of Washington, the eighth day of De- 
cember, a. d. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the 
independence of the United States of America the eiudnv-eighth. 

A?pat.&.m Lincoln - . 
By the President : 

Wix. n. Seward, Secretary of State. 

In further prosecution of the object sought "by this 
measure of amnesty, the President subsequently issued 
the following additional explanatory 

PROCLAMATION. 
By the President of the United States of America. 
Whereas, it has become necessary to define the cases in which insur 
gent enemies are entitled to the benefits of the Proclamation of the Preai 



4G0 The Life, Public Services, and 

dent of the United States, which was made on the 8th day of Decemher, 
18G3, and the manner in which they shall proceed to avail themselves of 
these benefits; and whereas the objects of that Proclamation were to 
suppress the insurrection and to restore the authority of the United 
States; and whereas the amnesty therein proposed by the President was 
offered with reference to these objects alone : 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
do hereby proclaim and declare that the said Proclamation does not apply 
to the cases of persons who, at the time when they seek to obtain the 
benefits thereof by taking the oath thereby prescribed, are in military, 
naval, or civil confinement or custody, or under bonds, or on parole of 
the civil, military, or naval authorities, or agents of the United States, as 
prisoners of war, or persons detained for offences of any kind, either be- 
fore or after conviction ; and that on the contrary it does apply only to 
those persons who, being yet at large, and free from any arrest, confine- 
ment, or duress, shall voluntarily come forward and take the said oath, 
with the purpose of restoring peace, and establishing the national au- 
thority. 

Persons excluded from the amnesty offered in the said Proclamation 
may apply to the President for clemency, like all other offenders, and 
their application will receive due consideration. 

I do further declare and proclaim that the oath presented in the afore- 
said proclamation of the 8th of December, 1863, may be taken and sub- 
scribed before any commissioned officer, civil, military, or naval, in the 
service of the United States, or any civil or military officer of a State or 
Territory not in insurrection, who, by the laws thereof, may be qualified 
for administering oaths. 

All officers who receive such oaths are hereby authorized to give cer- 
tificates thereof to the persons respectively by whom they are made, and 
such officers are hereby required to transmit the original records of such 
oaths, at as early a day as may be convenient, to the Department of State, 
where they will be deposited, and remain in the archives of the Govern- 
ment. 

The Secretary of State will keep a registry* thereof, and will, on appli- 
cation, in proper cases, issue certificates of such records in the customary 
form of official certificates. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 

of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Wash- 

[l. s.] ington, the 20th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1864, 

and of the independence of tho United States the eighty-eighth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

"Wm. II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

The diplomatic correspondence of the year 1S03, which 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 401 

was transmitted to Congress with the President's Mes- 
sage, was voluminous and interesting. But it touched 
few points of general interest, relating mainly to matters 
of detail in the relations between the United States and 
foreign Powers. One point of importance was gained in 
the course of our correspondence with Great Britain — 
the issuing of an order by that Government forbidding 
the departure of formidable rams which were building in 
English ports unquestionably for the rebel service. Our 
minister in London had been unwearied in collecting evi- 
dence of the purpose and destination of these vessels, and 
in pressing upon the British Government the absolute 
necessity, if they wished to preserve peaceful relations 
with the United States, of not permitting their professedly 
neutral ports to be used as naval depots and dock-yards 
for the service of the rebels. On the 5th of September, 
1863, Mr. Adams had written to Lord Russell, acknowl- 
edging the receipt of a letter from him in which the de- 
liberate purpose of the British Government to take no 
action in regard to these rams was announced. Mr. 
Adams had expressed his regret at such a decision, which 
he said he could regard as no otherwise than as prac- 
tically opening to the insurgents free liberty in Great 
Britain to prepare for entering and destroying any of the 
Atlantic seaports of the United States. "It would be 
superfluous in me," added Mr. Adams, "to point out to 
your lordship that this is Avar. No matter what may be 
the theory adopted of neutrality in a struggle, when this 
process is carried on in the manner indicated, from a ter- 
ritory and with the aid of the subjects of a third party, 
that third party to all intents and purposes ceases to be 
neutral. Neither is it necessary to show that any Gov 
eminent which suffers it to be done, fails in enforcing the 
essential conditions of international amity towards the 
country against whom the hostility is directed. In my 
belief it is impossible that any nation, retaining a proper 
degree of self-respect, could tamely submit to a continu- 
ance of relations so utterly deficient in reciprocity. I 
have no idea that Great Britain would do so for a mo- 



4G2 The Life, Public Services, and 

merit." On the Stli of September, Earl Russell wrote to 
Mr. Adams, to inform him that "instructions had been 
issued which would prevent the departure of the two 
iron-clad vessels from Liverpool." The Earl afterwards 
explained in Parliament, however, when charged with 
having taken this action under an implied menace of war 
conveyed in the letter of Mr. Adams, that it was taken in 
pursuance of a decision which had been made previous to 
the receipt of that letter and in ignorance of its existence. 
On the 11th of July, Mr. Seward forwarded a dispatch 
to Mr. Adams, elicited by the decision of the British 
Court in the case of the Alexandra, which had been 
seized on suspicion of having been fitted out in violation 
of the laws of Great Britain against the enlistment of 
troops to serve against nations with which that Govern- 
ment was at peace. The decision was a virtual repeal of 
the enlistment act as a penal measure of prevention, and 
actually left the agents of the rebels at full liberty to 
prepare ships of war in English ports to cruise against 
the commerce of the United States. Mr. Seward conveyed 
to Mr. Adams the President's views on the extraordinary 
state of affairs which this decision revealed. Assuming 
that the British Government had acted throughout in 
perfect good faith, and that the action of its judicial tri- 
bunals was not to be impeached, this dispatch stated that 
"if the rulings of the Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 
the case of the Alexandra should be affirmed by the court 
of last resort, so as to regulate the action of her Majesty's 
Government, the President would be left to understand 
that there is no law in Great Britain which will be effec- 
tive to preserve mutual relations of forbearance between 
the subjects of her Majesty and the Government and peo- 
ple of the United States in the only point where they are 
exposed to infraction. And the United States will be 
without any guarantee whatever against the indiscrimi- 
nate and unlawful employment of capital, industry, and 
skill by British subjects, in building, arming, equipping, 
and sending forth ships of war from British ports, to 
make war against the United States." The suggestion 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 463 

was made whether it would not be wise for Parliament 
to amend a law thus proved to be inadequate to the pur- 
pose for which it was intended. If the law must be left 
without amendment and be construed by the Government 
in conformity with the rulings in this case, then, said Mr. 
Seward, " there will be left for the United States no alter- 
native but to protect themselves and their commerce 
against armed cruisers proceeding from British ports as 
against the naval forces of a public enemy ; and also to 
claim and insist upon indemnities for the injuries which 
all such expeditions have hitherto committed or shall 
hereafter commit against this Government and the citizens 
of the United States." " Can it be an occasion for either 
surprise or complaint," asked Mr. Seward, "that if this 
condition of things is to remain and receive the deliberate 
sanction of the British Government, the navy of the Uni- 
ted States will receive instructions to pursue these ene- 
mies into the ports which thus, in violation of the law of 
•nations and the obligations of neutrality, become harbors 
for the pirates ?" Before the receipt of this dispatch, Mr. 
Adams had so clearly presented the same views, of the 
inevitable results of the policy the British Government 
seemed to be pursuing, to Lord Russell, as to render its 
transmission to him unnecessary — Mr. Seward, on the 
13th of August, informing Mr. Adams that he regarded 
his "previous communications to Earl Russell on the 
subject as an execution of his instructions by way of an- 
ticipation." 

Our relations with France continued to be friendly ; but 
the proceedings of the French in Mexico gave rise to rep 
resentations on both sides which may have permanent 
importance for the welfare of both countries. Rumors 
were circulated from time to time in France that the Gov- 
ernment of the United States had protested, or was about 
to protest, against the introduction into Mexico of a 
monarchical form of government, under a European prince, 
to be established and supported by French arms : and 
these reports derived a good deal of plausibility from the 
language of the American press, representing the un- 



464 The Life, Public Services, and 

doubted sentiment of a very large portion of the American 
people. Various incidental conversations were had on 
this subject during the summer of 1863, between Mr. Day- 
ton, our Minister in Paris, and the French Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, in which the latter uniformly assured 
Mr. Dayton that France had no thought of conquering 
Mexico or establishing there a dominant and permanent 
power. She desired simply to enforce the payment of 
just claims and to vindicate her honor. In a conversation 
reported by Mr. Dayton in a letter dated August 21, M. 
Drouyn de l'Huys took occasion again to say that 
" France had no purpose in Mexico other than heretofore 
stated— that she did not mean to appropriate permanently 
any part of that country, and that she should leave it as 
soon as her griefs were satisfied, and she could do so with 
honor." "In the abandon of a conversation somewhat 
familiar," adds Mr. Dayton, "I took occasion to say that 
in quitting Mexico she might leave & puppet behind her. 
He said no ; the strings would be too long to icork. He 
added that they 'had had enough of colonial experience in 
Algeria : that the strength of France was in her compact 
body and well-defined boundary. In that condition she 
had her resources always at command." 

In a dispatch dated September 14, Mr. Dayton reports 
a conversation in which the French Minister referred to 
the "almost universal report that our Government only 
awaits the termination of our domestic troubles to drive 
the French out of Mexico." He said that the French 
naturally conclude that, if they are to have trouble with 
us, it would be safest to take their own time ; and he 
assured M. Drouyn de FHuys that, " relying on the con- 
stant assurances of France as to its purposes in Mexico, 
and its determination to leave the people free as to their 
form of government, and not to hold or colonize any por- 
tion of their territories," our Government had indicated 
no purpose to interfere in the quarrel, not concealing at 
the same time our earnest solicitude for the well-being of 
that country, and an especial sensitiveness as to any 
forcible interference in the form of its government. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 465 

On the 21st of September, Mr. Seward instructed Mr. 
Dayton to call the attention of the French Minister to the 
apparent deviations of the French in Mexico from the 
tenor of the assurances uniformly given by the French 
Government that they did not intend permanent occupa- 
tion of that country, or any violence to the sovereignty of 
its people. And on the 26th of the same month Mr. 
Seward set forth at some length the position of our Gov- 
ernment upon this question, which is mainly embodied in 
the following extract : — 

The United States hold, in regard to Mexico, the same principles that 
they hold in regard to all other nations. They have neither a right nor a 
disposition to intervene hy force in the internal affairs of Mexico, whether 
to establish and maintain a republic or even a domestic government there, 
or to overthrow an imperial or a foreign one, if Mexico chooses to estab- 
lish or accept it. The United States have neither the right nor the dis- 
position to intervene by force on either side in the lamentable war which 
is going on between France and Mexico. On the contrary, they practise 
in regard to Mexico, in every phase of that war, the non-intervention 
which they require all foreign powers to observe in regard to the United 
States. But notwithstanding this self-restraint this Government knows 
full well that the inherent normal opinion of Mexico favors a government 
there republican in form and domestic in its organization, in preference to 
any monarchical institutions to be imposed from abroad. This Govern- 
ment knows also that this normal opinion of the people of Mexico re- 
sulted largely from the influence of popular opinion in this country, and 
is continually invigorated by it. The President believes, moreover, that 
this popular opinion of the United States is just in itself and eminently 
essential to the progress of civilization on the American continent, which 
civilization, it believes, can and will, if left free from European resistance, 
work harmoniously together with advancing refinement on the other con- 
tinents. This Government believes that foreign resistance, or attempts to 
control American civilization, must and will fail before the ceaseless and 
ever-increasing activity of material, moral, and political forces, winch 
peculiarly belong to the American continent. Nor do the United States 
deny that, in their opinion, their own safety and the cheerful destiny to 
which they aspire are intimately dependent on the continuance of free 
republican institutions throughout America. They have submitted these 
opinions to the Emperor of France, on proper occasions, as worthy of his 
serious consideration, in determining how he would conduct and close 
what might prove a successful war in Mexico. Nor is it necessary to 
practise reserve upon the point that if France should, upon due consider- 
ation, determine to adopt a policy in Mexico adverse to the American 
30 



4GG The Life, Public Services, and 

opinion and sentiments which I have described, that policy would prob- 
ably scatter seeds which would be fruitful of jealousies which might 
ultimately ripen into collision between France and the United States and 
other American republics. . . . The statements made to you by M. 
Prouyn de l'Huys concerning the Emperor's intentions are entirely satis 
factory, if we are permitted to assume them as having been authorized 
to be made by the Emperor in view of the present condition of affairs in 
Mexico. ! 

The French Minister, in a conversation on the 8th of 
October, stated to Mr. Dayton that the vote of the entire 
population of Mexico, Spanish and Indian, would "be 
taken as to the form of government to be established, and 
he had no doubt a large majority of that vote would be 
in favor of the Archduke Maximilian. He also expressed 
a desire that the United States would express its acquies- 
cence in such a result, and its readiness to enter into 
peaceful relations with such a Government, by acknowl- 
edging it as speedily as possible — inasmuch as such a 
course would enable France the sooner to leave Mexico 
and the new Government to take care of itself. In reply- 
ing to this request, on the 23d of October, Mr. Seward 
repeated the determination of our Government to maintain 
a position of complete neutrality in the war between 
France and Mexico, and declared that while they could 
not anticipate the action of the people of Mexico, they 
had not "the least purpose or desire to interfere with 
their proceedings, or control or interfere with their free 
choice, or disturb them in the exercise of whatever insti- 
tutions of government they may, in the exercise of an ab- 
solute freedom, establish." As we did not consider the 
war yet closed, however, we were not at liberty to con- 
sider the question of recognizing the Government which, 
in the further chances of that Avar, might take the place 
of the one now existing in Mexico, with which our rela- 
tions were those of peace and friendship. 

The policy of the President, therefore, in regard to the 
war in Mexico, was that of neutrality ; and, although this 
policy in some respects contravened the traditional pur- 
poses and principles of the Government and people of 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 467 

the United States, it is not easy to see what other could 
have been adopted without inviting hazards which no 
responsible statesman has a right to incur. The war 
against Mexico was undertaken ostensibly for objects 
and purposes which, we were compelled to regard as 
legitimate, and we could not ourselves depart from a 
strict neutrality without virtually conceding the right, 
not only of France, but of every other nation interested 
in our downfall, to become party to the war against us. 
While we have to a certain extent pledged ourselves to 
hold the whole continent open to republican institutions, 
our first duty was clearly to preserve the existence of 
our own Republic, not only for ourselves, but as the only 
condition on which republicanism anywhere is possible. 
The President, therefore, in holding this country wholly 
aloof from the Avar with France, consulted the ultimate 
and permanent interests of democratic institutions not 
less than the safety and welfare of the United States, and 
pursued the only policy at all compatible with the pres- 
ervation of our Union and the final establishment of the 
Monroe doctrine. Neither the President nor the people, 
however, indicated any purpose to acquiesce in the impo- 
sition of a foreign prince upon the Mexican people by 
foreign armies ; and on the 4th of April, 1864, the House 
of Representatives adopted the following resolution upon 
the subject, which embodies, beyond all doubt, the set- 
tled sentiment of the people of this country : — 

Resolved, That the Congress of the United States are unwilling by 
Bilenee to leave the nations of the world under the impression that they 
are indifferent spectators of the deplorable events no*w transp'ang in the 
Republic of Mexico; therefore, they think it tit to declare that it does 
not accord with the sentiment of the people of the United States to 
acknowledge a monarchical government erected on the ruins of any 
republican government in America, under the auspices Of any European 
Power. 

The Senate, however, took no action upon the resolu- 
tion. But in consequence of a statement by the Paris 
Munileur, that the French Government had received 
from our authorities " satisfactory evidence of the sense 



468 The Life, Public Services, and 

and bearing" of the resolution, the House on the 23d 
of May called for the explanation which had been given 
to the Government of France. In answer to this call, 
the President transmitted a report of the Secretary of 
State, enclosing a dispatch to Mr. Dayton, in which the 
Secretary, while saying that "the resolution truly inter- 
prets the unanimous sentiment of the people of the United 
States in regard to Mexico," added, that "it was another 
and distinct question, whether the United States would 
think it necessary or proper to express themselves in 
the form adopted by the House of Representatives at 
this time, 1 ' — " a question whose decision rested with the 
President, and that the President did not at present con- 
template any departure from the policy which this Gov- 
ernment has hitherto pursued in regard to the war 
which exists between France and Mexico." 

The action of Congress during the first of the session 
was not of special interest or importance. Public atten- 
tion continued to be absorbed by military operations, and 
Congress, at its previous session, had so fully provided 
for the emergencies, present and prospective, of the war, 
that little in this direction remained to be done. Resolu- 
tions were introduced by members of the opposing par- 
ties, some approving and others condemning the policy 
of the Administration. Attempts were made to amend 
tlie Conscription Bill, but the two Houses failing to agree 
on some of the more important changes proposed, the 
bill, as finally passed, did not vary essentially from the 
original law. The leading topic of discussion in this 
connection was the employment of colored men, free and 
slave, as soldiers. The policy of thus employing them 
had been previously established by the action of the 
Government in all departments ; and all that remained 
was to regulate the mode of their enlistment. A proviso 
was finally adopted by both Houses that colored troops, 
"while they shall be credited in the quotas of the sev- 
eral States or subdivisions of States wherein they are 
respectively drafted, enlisted, or shall volunteer, shall 
not be assigned as State troops, but shall be mustered 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 469 

into regiments or companies as 'United States Colored 
Volunteers.' " 

The general tone of the debates in Congress indicated 
a growing conviction on the part of the people of the 
whole country, without regard to party distinctions, that 
the destruction of slavery was inseparable from the vic- 
torious prosecution of the war. Men of all parties acqui- 
esced in the position that the days of slavery were 
numbered — that the rebellion, organized for the purpose 
of strengthening it, had placed it at the mercy of the 
National force, and compelled the Government to assail 
its existence as the only means of subduing the rebellion 
and preserving the Union. The certainty that the pros- 
ecution of the war must result in the emancipation of the 
slaves, led to the proposal of measures suited to this 
emergency. On the 6th of February, a bill was reported 
in the House for the establishment of a Bureau of Freed- 
men's Affairs, which should determine all questions re- 
lating to persons of African descent, and make regulations 
for their employment and proper treatment on abandoned 
plantations ; and, after a sharp and discursive debate, it 
was passed by a vote of sixty-nine to sixty- seven. 

The bill, however, did not pass the Senate, and nothing 
final was done in this direction until the next session. 

The most noticeable of the measures in reference to 
slavery which were before Congress at this session was 
the resolution to submit to the action of the several States 
an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
prohibiting the existence of slavery within *the States and 
Territories of the Union forever. 

The opposition which this proposition met was wonder- 
fully little considering the radical nature of the change 
proposed, and showed that the experience of the last 
three years had left but little inclination in any quarter 
to prolong the existence of slavery, and that the political 
necessities which formerly gave it strength and protection 
had ceased to be felt. At the commencement of the 
session, resolutions were offered by several members in 
both Houses, aiming at its prohibition by such an amend- 



470 The Life, Public Services, and 

merit of the Constitution. This mode of accomplishing 
the object sought was held to be free from the objections 
to which every other was exposed, as it is unquestion- 
ablv competent for the people to amend the Constitution, in 
accordance with the forms prescribed by its own pro- 
visions. One or two Southern Senators, Mr. Saulsbury, 
of Delaware, and Mr. Powell, of Kentucky, being prom- 
inent, urged that it was a palpable violation of State 
rights for the people thus to interfere with any thing 
which State laws declare to be property ; but they were 
answered by Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, who urged 
that when the Constitution was originally framed this 
prohibition of slavery might unquestionably have been 
embodied in it, and that it was competent for the people 
to do now whatever they might have done then. 

A prominent feature of the debate on the resolution in 
the Senate was a strong speech in its favor by Senator 
Henderson, of Missouri, whose advocacy of the measure 
surprised even its friends, and was a striking proof of the 
progress of anti-slavery sentiment in the Border States. 
The resolution passed the Senate on the 8th of April, 1864, 
by the strong vote of thirty-eight to six. It then went to 
the House, where it was taken up on the 31st of May. Mr. 
Hoi man, of Indiana, objected to the second reading of it, 
and this brought the House at once to a vote on the rejec- 
tion of the resolution, which was negatived by a vote of 
seventy-six to fifty-five. It was debated at a good deal of 
length, but without a tithe of the excitement which the mere 
mention of suoii a change would have aroused but a few 
years before. The vote on the passage of the resolution was 
taken on the 15th of June, and resulted in its rejection by a 
vote of ninety-four in its favor to sixty-five against it, two- 
thirds being necessary. Mr. Ashley, of Ohio, changed his 
vote to the negative, for the purpose of moving a reconsid- 
eration ; and the motion to reconsider having been made, 
the matter went over in this position to the next session. 

A more successful effort was made to repeal the noto- 
rious Fugitive Slave Law. The bill for the repeal was 
introduced in the House, where it was passed on the 13th 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 471 

of June, by a vote of eighty-two to fifty- eight. On the 15th 
it was received in the Senate, when, on motion of Mr. Sum- 
ner, it was referred to the Committee on Slavery and Freed- 
men, who immediately reported it favorably, without 
amendment ; but a vote on it was not reached till the 23d, 
when it passed by a vote of twenty-seven to twelve. 

The action of Congress during the session, relating to 
questions connected with taxation and the currency, does 
not call for detailed mention in this connection. 

Some incidental matters which arose excited full as 
much controversy as more important matters of legisla- 
tion. One heated controversy was had over a resolution 
introduced on Saturday, the 9th of April, by the Speaker, 
Mr. Colfax, for the expulsion from the House of Alexander 
Long, a member from Ohio, for language used by him in 
a speech before the House. Mr. Colfax' s resolution was 
as follows : — 

Whereas, on the 8th day of April, 1864, when the House of Repre- 
sentatives was in Committee of the Whole on the State of the Union, 
Alexander Long, a Representative in Congress from the Second District 
of Ohio, declared himself in favor of recognizing the independent nation 
nlity of the so-called Confederacy, now in arms against the Union. 

And whereas, the said so-called Confederacy, thus sought to be rec- 
ognized and established on the ruins of a dissolved or destroyed Union, 
has, as its chief officers, civil and military, those who have added perjury 
to their treason, and who seek to obtain success for their parricidal efforts 
by the killing of the loyal soldiers of the nation who are seeking to savo 
it from destruction. 

And whereas, the oath required of all members, and taken by the said 
Alexander Long on the first day of the present Congress, declares that " I 
have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, counsel, or encouragement to 
persons engaged in armed hostility to the United States," thereby de- 
claring that such conduct is regarded as inconsistent with membership 
in the Congress of the United States : 

Therefore, resolved, That Alexander Long, Representative from tho 
Second District of Ohio, having, on the 8th day of April, 1864, declared 
himself in favor of recognizing the independence and nationality of tho 
so-called Confederacy, now in arms against the Union, and thereby given 
aid, countenance, and encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostil- 
ity to the United States, is hereby expelled. 

The resolution was followed by a sharp debate, in the 



472 The Life, Public Services, and 

course of which Mr. Benjamin G. Harris, of Maryland, 
during a furious speech against the resolution, used the 
following words : — 

"The South ask you to leave them in peace, but now you say you will 
bring them into subjection, That is not done yet, and God Almighty 
grant it never may be!" 

These words added fuel to the fire which was already 
raging. On motion of Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, the 
language of Mr. Harris was taken down by the Clerk of 
the House. The resolution for the expulsion of Mr. 
Long was postponed till the following Monday, and a 
resolution was immediately introduced for the expulsion 
of Mr. Harris, which, under the operation of the previous 
question, was brought to an immediate vote. The vote 
resulted in yeas eighty-one, nays fifty-eight ; and the res- 
olution was lost, a two-thirds vote being requisite for the 
expulsion of a member. A resolution was then introduced 
that Mr. Harris, "having spoken words this day in debate 
manifestly tending and designed to encourage the existing 
rebellion and the public enemies of this nation, is de- 
clared to be an unworthy member of this House, and is 
hereby severely censured;" and this resolution was 
adopted by a vote of ninety-two yeas to eighteen nays. 

The resolution for the expulsion of Mr. Long was de- 
bated for four days, when the mover, being satisfied that 
a sufficient vote could not be obtained for the expulsion, 
adopted as his own a substitute of two resolutions, intro- 
duced by Mr. Broomall, of Pennsylvania. The first reso- 
lution, declaring Mr. Long an unworthy member of the 
House, was adopted by a vote of eighty yeas to seventy 
nays. The second, directing the Speaker to read the first 
resolution to Mr. Long during the session of the House, 
was also adopted. 

Considerable time was also consumed, and a good deal 
of ill-feeling created, by a controversy between General 
F. P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, whose seat in Congress 
was contested, and other members of the Missouri dele- 
gation. General Blair was accused by one of his col- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 473 

leagues of very discreditable transactions in granting 
permits to trade within the limits of his department, from 
which he was, however, completely exonerated by the 
investigations of a committee of the House. After this 
matter was closed, General Blair resigned his seat in the 
House and returned to his post in the army. The House, 
by resolution, called upon the President for information 
as to the circumstances of his restoration to command, 
and received on the 28th of April the following in reply :— 

To the House of Representatives : 

In obedience to the resolution of your honorable body, a copy of which 
i9 herewith returned, I have the honor to make the following brief state- 
ment, which is believed to contain the information sought. 

Prior to and at the meeting of the present Congress, Robert C. Schenck, 
of Ohio, and Frank P. Blair, Jr., of Missouri, members elect thereto, by 
and with the consent of the Senate held commissions from the Execu- 
tive as major-generals in the volunteer army. General Schenck tendered 
the resignation of his said commission, and took his seat in the House of 
Representatives, at the assembling thereof, upon the distinct verbal un- 
derstanding vith the Secretary of War and the Exputive that he might 
at any time during the session, at his own pleasure, withdraw said resig- 
nation and return to the field. 

General Blair was, by temporary agreement of General Sherman, in 
command of a corps through the battles in front of Chattanooga, and in 
inarching to the relief of Knoxville, which occurred in the latter days of 
December last, and of course was not present at the assembling of Con- 
gress. When he subsequently arrived here, he sought and was allowed 
by the Secretary of War and the Executive the same conditions and 
promise as was allowed and made to General Schenck. 

General Schenck has not applied to withdraw his resignation ; but 
when General Grant was made Lieutenant-General, producing some 
changes of commanders, General Blair sought to be assigned to the com- 
mand of a corps. This was made known to General Grant and General 
Sherman, and assented to by them, and the particular corps for him was 
designated. This was all arranged and understood, as now remembered, 
so much as a month ago ; but the formal withdrawal of General Blair's 
resignation, and the reissuing of the order assigning him to the com- 
mand of a corps, were not consummated at the War Department until 
last week, perhaps on the 23d of April instant. As a summary of tho 
whole, it may be stated that General Blair holds no military commission 
or appointment other than as herein stated, and that it is believed he is 
now acting as major-general upon the assumed validity of the commis- 
sion herein stated, and not otherwise. 



474 The Life, Public Services, and 

There are some letters, notes, telegrams, orders, entries, and perhaps 
other documents, in connection with this subject, which it is believed 
would throw no additional light upon it, but which will be cheerfully 
furnished if desired. Abraham Lincoln. 

The House on the next day passed a resolution calling 
for all the letters and documents having reference to the 
affair, and on May 2d the President sent to Congress the 
following message : — • 

To the Honorable House of Representatives : 

In compliance with the request contained in your resolution of the 
29th ultimo, a copy of which resolution is herewith returned, I have tho 
honor to transmit the following : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 5, 1S03. 
Hon. Montgomery Blair: 

My Dear Sir: — Some days ago I understood you to say th.it your 
brother, General Frank Blair, desires to be guided by my wishes as to 
whether he will occupy his seat in Congress or remain in the field. My 
wish, then, is compounded of what I believe will be best for the coun 
try ; and it is that he will come here, put his military commission in my 
hands, take his seat, go into caucus with our friends, abide thi nomina 
tions, help elect the nominees, and thus aid to organize a House of Rep- 
resentatives which will really support the Government in the war. If 
the result shall be the election of himself as Speaker, let h'tn serve in 
that position. If not, let him retake his commission and return to the 
army for the benefit of the country. 

This will heal a dangerous schism for him. It will relieve him from 
a dangerous position or a misunderstanding, as I think he is in danger of 
being permanently separated from those with whom only he can ever have 
a real sympathy — the sincere opponents of slavery. 

It will be a mistake if he shall allow the provocations offered him by 
insincere time-servers to drive him from the house of Ms own building. 
He is young yet. He has abundant talents— quite enough to occupy all 
bis time without devoting any to temper. 

He is rising in military skill and usefulness. His recent appointment to 
the command of a corps, by one so competent to judge as General Sher- 
man, proves this. In that line he can serve both the country and himself 
more profitably than he could .is a member of Congress upon the floor. 

The foregoing is what I would say if Frank Blair was my brother in- 
etead of yours. 

(Signed) A. Lincoln. 

(After some unimportant documents, the resignation of General Blair 
was annexed, dated January 1, 1864, and its acceptance by the Presi- 
dent on January 12th. Then came the following telegram : — ) 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D. G, March 15. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, Nashville, Tennessee : 

General McPherson having been assigned to the command of a depart- 
ment, could not General Frank Blair, without difficulty or detriment to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 475 

the service, be assigned to the command of the corps he commanded 
awhile last autumn ? 

(Signed) A. Lincoln. 

(Then came some dispatches showing that General Logan was in com- 
mand of that corps, the Fifteenth, and that General Blair was to be as- 
signed to the Seventeenth, and General Blair's request, dated April 20th, 
that he be assigned to the Seventeenth Corps at once. Then came the 
following note : — ) 

Execottvk Mansion, "Washington, April 23, 1364 

Hon. Secretary of "War: 

My Dear Sir: — According to our understanding with Major-General 
Frank P. Blair, at the time he took his seat in Congress, last winter, he 
now asks to withdraw his resignation, then tendered, and be sent to the 
field. Let this be done. Let the order sending him be such as shown 
to-day by the Adjutant-General, only dropping from it the names of Ma- 
guire and Perkins. 

Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 

(After giving General Blair's request to withdraw his resignation and his 
appointment to the Seventeenth Corps, the Message closed as follows : — ) 

The foregoing constitutes all sought by the resolution, so far as remem- 
bered or has been found by diligent search. 

May 2, 1864. Abraham Lincoln. 

On April 28th, the President sent to Congress the fol- 
lowing Message, which sufficiently explains itself : — 

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives: 

1 have the honor to transmit herewith an address to the President of 
the United States, and through him to both Houses of Congress, on the 
condition of the people of East Tennessee, and asking their attention to 
the necessity for some action on the part of the Government for their re- 
lief, and which address is presented by the Committee or Organization, 
called "The East Tennessee Relief Association." Deeply commisera- 
ting the condition of those most loyal people, I am unprepared to make 
any specific recommendation for their relief. The military is doing, and 
will continue to do, the best for them within its power. Their address 
represents that the construction of a direct railroad communication 
between Knoxville and Cincinnati, by way of Central Kentucky, would 
be of great consequence in the present emergency. It may be remem- 
bered that in my Annual Message of December, 1861, such railroad con- 
struction was recommended. I now add that, with the hearty concur- 
rence of Congress, I would yet be pleased to construct the road, both 
for the relief of those people and for its continuing military importance-. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Other matters engrossing the attention of Congress, no 
definite action was taken upon the subject thus referred to. 



476 The Life, Public Services, and 

A bill was passed on March 2d, restoring the grade of 
Lieutenant- General, and General Grant was appointed by 
the President, with the assent of the Senate, to that office, 
and invested with the command of the armies of the 
United States. 

The commission was handed by the President to Gen- 
eral Grant, at the White House, on the 9 th of March ; 
and as he gave it, he thus addressed him : — 

General Grant : — The expression of the nation's approbation of what 
you have already clone, and its reliance on you for what remains to do 
in the existing great struggle, is now presented with this commission, con- 
stituting you Lieutenant-General of the Army of the United States. 

With this high honor, devolves on you an additional responsibility. As 
the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I 
scarcely need add, that with what I here speak for the country, goes my 
own hearty personal concurrence. 

General Grant responded as follows : — 

Mr. President: — I accept this commission, with gratitude for the 
high honor conferred. 

With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields 
for our common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to disappoint 
your expectations. 

I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me, and 
I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies ; and above 
all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men. 

Gen. Grant announced his assumption of command 
under this appointment by a General Order, issued at 
Nashville on the 17th of March. 

Towards the close of the year 1883, as the terms of 
service of many of the volunteer forces were about to 
expire, the President issued a proclamation for three 
hundred thousand volunteers. The military successes 
of the season had raised the public courage and inspired 
new confidence in the final issue of the contest for the 
preservation of the Union ; it was believed, therefore, 
that an appeal for volunteers would be responded to 
with alacrity, and save the necessity for a resort to 
another draft. The proclamation was as follows : — 



State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 477 

a proclamation. 

By the President of the United States. 

W7ierens, the term of service of part of the volunteer forces of tho 
United States will expire during the coming year; and, wliereas, in addi- 
tion to the men hy the present draft, it is deemed expedient to call out 
three hundred thousand volunteers to serve for three years or during the 
war, not, however, exceeding three years : Now, therefore, I Abraham 
Lincoln, President of the United States, and Commander-in-Chief of the 
army and navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States when 
called into actual service, do issue this my proclamation, calling upon the 
Governors of the different States to raise, and have enlisted into the 
United States service, for the various companies and regiments in the 
field from their respective States, the quotas of three hundred thousand 
men. 

I further proclaim that all the volunteers thus called out and duly 
enlisted shall receive advance pay, premium, and hounty, as heretofore 
communicated to the Governors of States by the War Department 
through the Provost-Marshal General's office, by special letters. 

I further proclaim that all volunteers received under this call, as well as 
all others not heretofore credited, shall be duly credited and deducted 
from the quotas established for the next draft. 

I further proclaim that if any State shall fail to raise the quota as- 
signed to it by the War Department under this call, then a draft for the 
deficiency in said quota shall be made in said State, or in the districts 
of said State, for their due proportion of said quota, and the said draft 
shall commence on the 5th day of January, 1864. 

And I further proclaim that nothing in this proclamation shall inter- 
fere with existing orders, or with those which may be issued for the 
present, draft in the States where it is now in progress, or where it has 
not yet been commenced. 

The quotas of the States and districts will be assigned by the War De- 
partment through the Provost-Marshal General's office due regard being 
had for the men heretofore furnished, whether by volunteering or draft- 
ing; and the recruiting Avill be conducted in accordance with such 
instructions as have been or may be issued by that Department. 

In issuing this proclamation, I address myself not only to the Govern- 
ors of the several States, but also to the good and loyal people thereof, 
invoking them to lend their cheerful, willing, and effective aid to tho 
measures thus adopted, with a view to re-enforce our victorious army 
now in the field, and brirg our needful military operations to a prosper- 
ous end, thus closing forever the fountains of sedition and civil war. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 



478 The Life, Public Services, and 

Done at the City of Washington, this 17th day of October, 
r i 1SG3, and of the independence of the United States the eighty- 
sevrnth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President: 

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

By the act of 1861 for raising troops, a Government 
bounty of one hundred dollars was paid to each volun- 
teer ; and this amount had been increased from time to 
time, until each soldier who had already filled his term 
of service was entitled to receive four hundred dollars 
on re-enlisting, and each new volunteer three hundred. 
After the President's proclamation was issued, enlist- 
ments, especially of men already in the service, proceeded 
with great rapidity, and the amount to be paid for "boun- 
ties threatened to be very large. Under these circum- 
stances, Congress adopted an amendment to the enrol- 
ment act, by which the payment of all bounties, except 
those authorized by the act of 1861, was to cease after 
the 5th day of January. Both the Secretary of War 
and the Provost-Marshal General feared that the effect of 
this, when it came to be generally understood, would be 
to check the volunteering, which was then proceeding in 
a very satisfactory manner ; and on the 5th of January, 
the day when the prohibition was to take eifect, the 
President sent to Congress the following communica- 
tion : — 

"Washington, January 5, 1S64. 
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

By a joint resolution of your honorable bodies, approved December 
23, 1863, the paying of bounties to veteran volunteers, as now practised 
by the War Department, is, to the extent of three hundred dollars in 
each case, prohibited after the fifth day of the present month. I trans- 
mit for your consideration a communication from the Secretary of War, 
accompanied by one from the Provost-Marshal General to him, both 
relating to the subject above mentioned. I earnestly recommend that 
this law be so modified as to allow bounties to be paid as they now aro 
at least to the ensuing 1st day of February. I am not without anxiety 
lest I appear to be importunate in thus recalling your attention to a 
subject upon which you have so recently acted, and nothing but a deep 
conviction that the public interest demands it could induce me to incur 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 479 

the hazard of heing misunderstood on this point. The Executive ap- 
proval was given by me to the resolution mentioned, and it is now by a 
closer attention and a fuller knowledge of facts that I feel constrained to 

recommend a reconsideration of the subject. 

A. Lincoln. 

A resolution extending the payment of "bounties, in 
accordance with this recommendation, to the first of 
April, was at once reported by the Military Committee 
of the Senate, and passed by both Houses of Congress. 

The volunteering, however, did not appear to supply 
men with sufficient rapidity, and on the 1st of February, 
1864, the President made the following order : 

Esecutivb Mansion, February 1, 1SC4. 
Ordered, that a draft for five hundred thousand men, to serve for three 
years or during the war, be made on the 10th day of March next, for the 
military service of the United States, crediting and deducting therefrom 
so many as may have been enlisted or drafted into the service prior to the 
1st day of March, and not heretofore credited. 

(Signed) Abraham Lincoln. 

The effect of this order was not only to stimulate enlist 
ments, but also to induce a general application of all cred- 
its that could possibly be made, to reduce the quotas of 
the different districts, and many of them, before the time 
came round, were enabled to announce themselves en- 
tirely out of the draft. Partly on this account, doubtless, 
before the 10th of March came the draft was indefinitely 
postponed, and on the 15th of March another order was 
made calling for the additional number of two hundred 
thousand men, "in order to supply the force required to 
be drafted for the navy, and to provide an adequate re- 
serve force for all contingencies." The various districts 
were required to fill their quotas by the 15th of April, 
and it was announced that where they had not done so, a 
draft would be commenced as soon after that date as prac- 
ticable. 

Some persons holding positions as consuls of foreign 
powers having claimed to be exempt from the draft on 
that ground, the following order was made on the subject 
on the 19th of May 1864, the immediate occasion of it 



480 The Life, Public Services, and 

"being such a claim on the part of a Mr. Hunt, a Consul of 
Belgium, at St. Louis : — 

It is officially announced by the State Department that citizens of the 
United States holding commissions and recognized as Consuls of foreign 
powers, are not by law exempt from military service if drafted : 

Therefore the mere enrolment of a citizen holding a foreign consulate 
will not be held to vacate his commission, but if he shall be drafted Ids 
exequatur will be revoked unless he shall have previously resigned in 
order that another consul may be received. 

An exequatur bearing date the 3d day of May, 1858, having been issued 
to Charles Hunt, a citizen of the United States, recognizing him as a Con- 
sul of Belgium for St. Louis, Missouri, and declaring him free to exercise 
and enjoy such functions, powers, and privileges as are allowed to the con- 
suls of the most favored nations in the United States, and the said Hunt 
having sought to screen himself from his military duty to his country, in 
consequence of thus being invested with the consular functions of a for- 
eign power in the United States, it is deemed advisable that the said 
Charles Hunt should no longer be permitted to continue in the exercise 
of said functions, powers, and privileges. 

These are therefore to declare that I no longer recognize the said Hunt 
as Consul of Belgium, for St. Louis, Missouri, and will not permit him to 
exercise or enjoy any of the functions, powers, or privileges allowed to 
consuls of that nation, and that I do hereby wholly revoke and annul the 
said exequatur heretofore given, and do declare the same to be absolutely 
null and void from this day forward. 

In testimony whereof, I have caused these letters to be made patent, 
and the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed. 
Given under my hand at Washington, this 19th day of May, in the year of 
our Lord 1864, and of the independence of the United States of Amer- 
ica the eighty-eighth. Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 

Recruiting under the order of March 15th continued to 
progress, but not with sufficient rapidity. On the 23d of 
April, the Governors of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, In- 
diana, and Ohio tendered to the Government a force of 
one hundred thousand men from those States, to serve for 
one hundred days. The proposition was accepted, and 
on recommendation of the Secretary of War, Congress 
voted twenty-five million dollars to defray the expenses — 
the resolution being passed without debate, and by almost 
unanimous consent. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 431 



CHAPTER XVI. 



MOVEMENTS TOWARDS RECONSTRUCTION. 

State Governments in Louisiana and Arkansas. — Difference of Views 

between the president and congress. tlie rebellion and labor. 

The President on Benevolent Associations. — Advancing Action 

OONCEEING THE KeGRO PlACE. Fl'.EE STATE CONSTITUTIONS. 

The proclamation which accompanied the Annual Mes- 
sage of the President for 1864 embodied the first sugges- 
tions of the Administration on the important subject of re- 
constructing the Governments of those States which had 
joined in tile secession movement. The matter had been 
canvassed somewhat extensively by the public press, and 
by prominent politicians, in anticipation of the overthrow 
of the rebellion, and the view taken of the subject had 
been determined, to a very considerable extent, by the 
sentiments and opinions of the different parties as to the 
object and purpose of the war. The supporters of the 
Administration did not all hold precisely the same ground 
on this subject. As has already been seen, in the debates 
of the Congress of 1SG2-3, a considerable number of the 
friends of the Government, in both houses, maintained 
that, by the act of secession, the revolted States had put 
themselves outside the pale of the Constitution, and were 
henceforth to be regarded and treated, not as members of 
the Union, but as alien enemies : * — that their State organ- 

* President Lincoln's view of this position is stated in the following note ad- 
dressed by Mm to the publishers of the North American Review, which contained 
an article upon his policy of administration : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 16, 1S64. 
" Messks. Crosbt ik Nichols : 

" G entlemk.v : — The- number for this month and year of the North American Review visa 
dnly received, and far which please accept my thanks. Of course I am not the most impartial 
Judiie ; yet, with due allowance for this, I venture to hope that the article entitled 'Tho Presi- 
01 



482 The Life, Public Services, and 

izations and State boundaries had "been expunged by their 
own act ; and that they were to "be readmitted to the 
jurisdiction of the Constitution, and to the privileges of 
the Union, only upon such terms and conditions as the 
Federal Government of the loyal States might prescribe. 
On the other hand, it was held that the acts of secession, 
passed by the several State Governments, were absolutely 
null and void, and that while the persons who passed 
them, and those who aided in giving them effect, by 
taking up arms against the United States, had rendered 
themselves liable individually to the penalties of treason, 
they had not, in any respect, changed the relations of 
their States, as such, to the Federal Government. The 
governments of those States had been for a time sub- 
verted ; but they might at any time be re-established upon 
a republican basis, under the authority and protection of 
the United States. The proclamation proceeded, in the 
main, upon the latter theory. The President had the 
power, under the Constitution, and by specific legislation 
of Congress, to grant pardons upon such conditions as he 
might deem expedient. In the exercise of this power, 
President Lincoln released from legal penalties and re- 
stored to the rights of citizenship all, in each State, with 



dent's Policy' will be of value to tho country. I fear I am not worthy of all which is therein 
kindly said of me personally. 

"The sentence of twelve lines, commencing at tho top of page 252,1 could wish to be not 
exactly what it is. In what is there expressed, the writer has not correctly understood me. I 
have never had a theory that secession could absolve States or people from their obligations. 
Precisely the contrary is asserted in the inaugural address; and it was because of my belief in 
the continuation of those obligations that I was puzzled, for a time, as to denying the legal 
rights of those citizens vi ho remained individually innocent of treason or rebellion. But I meaa 
no more now tiuin to merely call attention to this point. 

. " Yours respectfully, 

"A. Lincoln." 

The sentence referred to by Mr. Lincoln is as follows: — 

"Even so long ago as when Mr. Lincoln, not yet convinced of the danger and magnitude of 
the crisis, was endeavoring to persuade himself of Union majorities at the South, and carry on 
a war that was half peace, in the hope of a peace that would have been all war, while he waa 
still enforcing the Fugitive Slave law, under some theory that secession, however it might ab- 
solve States from their obligations, could not escheat them of their claims under the Constitu- 
tion, atd that slaveholders in rebellion had alone, among mortals, the privilege of having their 
dike f.nd eatins it at the same time. — the enemies of free government were striving to persuade 
the people that the war was an abolition crusade. To rebel without reason was proclaimed as 
uno cf the rights of man, while it was carefully kept out of sight that to suppress rebellion, is 
tho first duty of government" 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 483 

certain specified exceptions, who should take and abide 
by a prescribed oath ; and then he proclaimed his pur- 
pose to recognize them as the citizens of such State, and 
as alone competent to organize and carry on the local 
government ; and he pledged the power of the General 
Government to protect such republican State Governments 
as they might establish, "against invasion, and against 
domestic violence." By way of precaution against a 
usurpation of power by strangers, he insisted on the same 
qualifications for voting as had been required by the con- 
stitution and laws of the State previous to secession : — 
and to provide against usurpation of power by an insig- 
nificant minority, he also required that the new govern- 
ment should be elected by at least one-tenth as many 
voters as had voted in the State at the Presidential elec- 
tion of I860. In the oath which he imposed as essential 
to citizenship, the President required a pledge to sustain 
the Constitution of the United States, the laws of Con- 
gress, and the Executive proclamations and acts on the 
subject of slavery, so long and so far as the same should 
not be declared invalid and of no binding obligation by 
the Supreme Court of the United States. These were the 
foundations of the broad and substantial basis laid by the 
President for the restoration of the Union, and the re-es- 
tablishment of loyal republican governments in the sew • 
eral seceded States. 

Various indications in the Southern States had satisfied 
the President that the time had come when the work of re- 
construction might safely and wisely be thus commenced. 
In Tennessee, where the rebels had never maintained any 
permanent foothold, but where the Government at Wash- 
ington had found it necessary to commit the local author- 
ity to Andrew Johnson, as Provisional Governor, there 
had been a very strong party in favor of restoring the 
State to its former position as a member of the FederaT 
Union. But in Louisiana the movements in the same 
direction had been earlier and more decided than in any 
other Southern State. The occupation of New Orleans 
by the National forces, and the advent of General Butler 






484 The Life, Public Services, and 

as commander of that Military Department, on the 1st of 
May, 1862, speedily satisfied a very considerable portion 
of the inhabitants, who had property at stake in the city 
and State, that the rebel authority could never be restored. 
There were, however, even among professed Unionists, 
many who devoted their time and energy rather to carp- 
ing at the measures which the Government felt itself 
called upon to pursue, and to the promotion and adoption 
of their individual views, than to cordial co-operation with 
the President in his efforts to re-establish the forms of 
civil government upon a proper basis. It was in answer 
to such a complaint that the President wrote the follow- 
ing tetter : — 

"Washington, D. C, Juhj 28, 1SG2. 
Cutiibert Bullitt, Esq., New Orleans, La. : 

Sir : — The copy of a letter addressed to yourself by Mr. Thomas J. Dn- 
rant has been shown to me. The writer appears to be an able, a dispassion- 
ate, and an entirely sincere man. Tbe first part of the letter is devoted 
to an effort to show that the secession ordinance of Louisiana was adopted 
against the will of the majority of the people. This is probably true, and 
in that fact may be found some instruction. Why did they allow the or- 
dinance to go into effect? Why did they not exert themselves? Why 
stand passive and allow themselves to be trodden down by a minority? 
Why did they not hold popular meetings, and have a convention of their 
own to express and enforce the true sentiments of the State? If pre-or- 
ganization was against them, then why not do this now that the United 
States army is present to protect them ? The paralyzes- — the dead palsy 
— of the Government in the whole struggle is, that this class of men will 
do nothing for the Government — nothing for themselves, except demand- 
ing that the Government shall not strike its enemies, lest they be struck 
by accident. 

Mr. Durant complains that, in various ways, the relation of master and 
Blave is disturbed by the presence of our army ; and he considers it par- 
ticular 1 vexatious that this, in part, is done under cover of an act of Con- 
p' es". - idle constitutional guarantees are superseded on the plea of mili- 
tary necessity. The truth is, that what is done and omitted about slaves 
is done and omitted on the same military necessity. It is a military necea 
Bity to have men and money ; and we cannot get either, in sufficient num- 
bers or amounts, if we keep from or drive from our lines slaves coming to 
them. 

Mr. Durant cannot be ignorant of the pressure in this direction, nor of 
my efforts to hold it within bounds, till he, and such as he, shall have timo 
to help themselves. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 485 

I am not posted to speak understanding^ on the public regulations of 
which Mr. Durant complains. If experience shows any of them to he 
wrong, let them he set right. I think I can perceive in the freedom of 
trade which Mr. Durant urges, that, he would relieve both friends and 
enemies from the pressure of the blockade. By this he would serve the 
enemy more effectively than the enemy is able to serve himself. 

I do not say or believe that to serve the enemy is the purpose of Mr. 
Durant, or that he is conscious of any purposes other than national and 
patriotic ones. Still, if there were a class of men who, having no choice 
of sides in the contest, were anxious only to have quiet and comfort for 
themselves while it rages, and to fall in with the victorious side at the 
end of it, without loss to themselves, their advice as to the mode of con- 
ducting the contest would be precisely such as his. 

He speaks of no duty, apparently thinks of none, resting upon Union 
men. He even thinks it injurious to the Union cause that they should be 
restrained in trade and passage, without taking sides. They are to touch 
neither a sail nor a pump — live merely passengers (" dead-heads" at that) 
— to be carried snug and dry throughout the storm and safely landed right 
side up. Nay, more — even a mutineer is to go untouched, lest these sacred 
passengers receive an accidental wound. 

Of course, the rebellion will never be suppressed in Louisiana, if the 
professed Union men there will neither help to do it, nor permit the Gov- 
ernment to do it without their help. 

Now, I think the true remedy is very different from what is suggested 
by Mr. Durant. It docs not lie in rounding the rough angles of the war, 
but in removing the necessity for the war. The people of Louisiana, who 
wish protection to person and property, have but to reach forth their 
hands and take it. Let them in good faith reinaugurate the national an 
thority and set up a State Government conforming thereto under the Con- 
stitution. They know how to do it, and can have the protection of the 
army while doing it. The army will be withdrawn so soon as such Gov- 
ernment can dispense with its presence, and the people of the State can 
then, upon the old terms, govern themselves to their own liking. This is 
very simple and easy. 

If they will not do this, if they prefer to hazard all for the sake of 
dest~oying the Government, it is for them to consider whether it is prob- 
able 1 will surrender the Government to save them from losing all. If 
they decline what I suggest, you will scarcely need to ask what I will 
do. 

What would you do in my position? Would you drop the war where it 
is, or would you prosecute it in future with elder-stalk squirts, charged 
with rose-water? Would you deal lighter blows rather than heavier 
ones? Would you give up the contest leaving every available means un- 
applied? 

I am in no boastful mood. I shall not do more than I can, but I shall 
do all I can to save the Government, which is my sworn duty as well as 



486 The Life, Public Services, and 

my personal inclination. I shall do nothing in malice. "What I deal with 
is too vast for malicious dealing. Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

As time went on, however, the disposition of the citizens 
to exert themselves for the re-establishment of former 
civil relations increased, and preparations were accord- 
ingly made to hold an election in the fall of that year for 
members of the Congress of the United States. General 
Shepley had been appointed Military Governor of the 
State, and to him the President, in November, addressed 
the following letter on that subject : — 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, Noveinlier 21, 1SG2. 

Dear Sir: — Dr. Kennedy, bearer of this, has some apprehension that 
Federal officers, not citizens of Louisiana, maybe set up as candidates for 
Congress in that State. In my view there could be no possible object in 
such an election. *We do not particularly need members of Congress from 
those 1 States to enable us to get along with legislation here. What we do 
want is the conclusive evidence that respectable citizens of Louisiana are 
willing to be members of Congress and to swear support to the Constitu- 
tion, and that other respectable citizens there are willing to vote for them 
and send them. To send a parcel of Northern men here as representa- 
tives, elected, as would be understood (and perhaps really so), at the point 
of the bayonet, would be disgraceful and outrageous ; and were I a mem- 
ber of Congress here, I would vote against admitting any such man to a 
seat. ff Yours, very truly, 

A. Lincoln'. 

Hon. G. F. Shepley. 

The election was held, and Messrs. Flanders and Halm 
were chosen and admitted to their seats at the ensuing 
session, as has been already seen. 

On the 23d of May, 1863, the various Union associations 
of New Orleans applied to the Military Governor of the 
State for authority to call a convention of the loyal citi- 
zens of Louisiana, for the purpose of framing a new State 
Constitution, and of re-establishing civil government 
under the Constitution of the United States. What they 
especially desired of him was that he should order a regis- 
tration of the loyal voters of the State, and appoint com- 
missioners of registration in each parish to register the 
names of all citizens who should take the oath of alle- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 487 

glance to tlie Constitution of the United States, and repu- 
diate allegiance to the rebel Confederacy. General Shep- 
ley, in reply, recognized fully the great importance of the 
proposed movement, but thought it of the utmost conse- 
quence that it should proceed as the spontaneous act of 
the people of the State, without the slightest appearance 
or suspicion of having been in any degree the result of 
military dictation. He consented to provide for the regis- 
tration of such voters as might voluntarily come forward 
for the purpose of being enrolled, but deferred action 
upon the other points submitted to him until he could re- 
ceive definite instructions on the subject from the Govern- 
ment at Washington. 

In June, a committee of planters, recognizing the pro- 
priety of some movement for the re-establishment of civil 
authority in the State, and not concurring in the policy of 
those who proposed to form a new constitution, applied 
to the President, asking him to grant a full recognition of 
the rights of the State as they existed before the act of 
secession, so that they might return to their allegiance 
under the old Constitution of the State, and that he would 
order an election for State officers, to be held on the 1st 
Monday of November. 

To this application the President made the following 
reply : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington' June 19, 1563. 

Gextlemex : — Since receiving your letter, reliable information has 
readied me that a respectable portion of the Louisiana people desire to 
amend their State Constitution, and contemplate holding a convention for 
that object. The fact alone, it seems to me, is sufficient reason why tho 
General Government should not give the committee the authority you 
peek to act under the existing State Constitution. I may add, that -while 
1 do not perceive how such a committee could facilitate our military opera- 
tions in Louisiana, I really apprehend it might be so Used as to embarrass 
them. 

As to an election to be held in November, there is abundant time with- 
out any order or proclamation from me just now. The people of Louisi- 
ana shall not lack an opportunity for a fair election for both Federal and 
State officers by want of any thing within my power to give them. 
Your obedient servant, 

A. LiNcer.N. 



4S8 The Life, Public Services, amd 

After the appearance of the President's proclamation, 
the movement towards reconstruction in Louisiana as- 
sumed greater consistency, and was carried forward with 
greater steadiness and strength. On the 8th of January 
a very large Free State Convention was held at New 
Orleans, at which resolutions were adopted indorsing all 
the acts and proclamations of the President, and urging 
the immediate adoption of measures for the restoration of 
the State to its old place in the Union. On the 11th, Gen- 
eral Banks issued a proclamation, appointing an election 
for State officers on the 22d of February, who were to be 
installed on the 4th of March, and another election for 
delegates to a convention to revise the Constitution of the 
State on the first Monday in April. The old Constitution 
and laws of Louisiana were to be observed, except so far 
as they relate to slavery, " which," said General Banks, 
" being inconsistent with the present condition of public 
affairs, and plainly inapplicable to any class of persons 
within the limits of the State, must be suspended, and 
they are now declared inoperative and void." The oath 
of allegiance required by the President in his proclama- 
tion, with the condition affixed to the elective franchise 
by the Constitution of Louisiana, was prescribed as con 
stituting the qualifications of voters. 

Under this order, parties were organized for the elec- 
tion of State officers. The friends of the National Gov 
eminent were divided, and two candidates were put in 
nomination for Governor, Hon. Michael Halm being the 
regular nominee, and representing the supporters of the 
policy of the President, and Hon. B. F. Flanders being 
put in nomination by those who desired a more radical 
policy than the President had proposed. Both took very 
decided ground against the continued existence of slavery 
within the State. Hon. C. Koselius was nominated by 
that portion of the people who concurred in the wish for 
the return of Louisiana to the Union, and were willing to 
take the oath of allegiance prescribed by the President, 
but who nevertheless disapproved of the general policy 
of the Administration, especially on the subject of sla- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 489 

very. The election resulted in the election of Mr. 
Halm. 

The following letter was written "by Mr. Lincoln to 
congratulate him on his election : — 

Executivk Mansion, Washing-tow, March 13, 1S64. 
Hon. MionAEL ITaiin: 

My Dear Sir : — I congratulate you on having fixed your name in history 
as the first Free-State Governor of Louisiana. Now you are about to have a 
convention, which, among other things, will probably define the elective 
franchise. I barely suggest, for your private consideration, whether some 
of the colored people may not be let in, as, for instance, the very intelli- 
gent, and especially those who have fought gallantly in our ranks. They 
would probably help, in some trying time to come, to keep the jewel of 
liberty in the family of freedom. But this is only a suggestion, not to the 
public, but to you alone. Truly yours, 

A. Lincoln. 

Mr. Halm was inaugurated as Governor on the 4th of 
March. On the 15th he was clothed with the powers 
previously exercised by General Banks, as military gov- 
ernor, by the following order from the President : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, March 15, 18G4. 

TTis Excellency Michael Harn, Governor of Louisiana: 

Until further orders, you are hereby invested with the powers exercised 
hitherto by the military governor of Louisiana. 

Yours truly, 

Abraham Lincoln. 

On March 16th, Governor Halm issued a proclamation, 
notifying the electors of the State of the election for del- 
egates to the convention previously ordered by General 
Banks. 

The party which elected Governor Halm succeeded also 
in electing a large majority of the delegates to the con- 
vention, which met in New Orleans on the 6th of April. 
On the 11th of May it adopted, by a vote of seventy to six- 
teen, a clause of the new Constitution, by which slavery 
was forever abolished in the State. The Constitution was 
adopted on the 5th of September, by a vote of six thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-six to one thousand five hun- 
dred and sixty-six. 

Great umbrage was taken at these proceedings by some 



490 TnE Life, Public Services, and 

of the best friends of the cause, as if there had been an 
unauthorized and unjustifiable interference on the part of 
the President, so that this Constitution and this State 
Government, though nominally the work of the people, 
were in reality only his. That this was a mistake, the 
following letter, written in August, 1SG3, is sufficient 
proof : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Avgust 5, 1S03. 

My dear General Banks : 

While I very well know what I would be glad for Louisiana to do, it 
is quite a different thing for me to assume direction of the matter. I 
would be glad for her to make a new Constitution, recognizing the Eman- 
cipation Proclamation, and adopting emancipation in those parts of the 
State to which the proclamation does not apply. And while she is at it, 
I think it would not be objectionable for her to adopt some practical sys- 
tem by which the two races could gradually live themselves out of their 
old relation to each other, and both come out better prepared for the 
new. Education for young blacks should be included in the plan. After 
all, the power or element of "contract " may be sufficient for this proba- 
tionary period, and by its simplicity and flexibility may be the better. 

As an anti-slavery man, I have a motive to desire emancipation which 
pro-slavery men do not have ; but even they have strong enough reason 
to thus place themselves again under the shield of the Union, and to thus 
perpetually hedge against the recurrence of the scenes through which Ave 
are now passing. 

Governor Shepley has informed me that Mr. Durant is now taking a 
registry, with a view to the election of a Constitutional Convention in 
Louisiana. This, to me, appears proper. If such convention were to 
ask my views, I could present little else than Avhat I now say to you. I 
think the thing should be pushed forward, so that, if possible, its mature 
work may reach here by the meeting of Congress. 

For my own part, I think I shall not, in any event, retract the Eman- 
cipation Proclamation; nor, as Executive, ever return to slavery any 
person who is free by the terms of that proclamation, or by any of the 
I acts of Congress. 

If Louisiana shall send members to Congress, their admission to seats 

will depend, as you know, upon the respective Houses, and not upon the 

President. * * * * 

Yours, very truly, 

(Signed) A. Lincoln. 

In Arkansas, where a decided Union feeling had exist- 
ed from the outbreak of the rebellion, the appearance of 
the proclamation was the signal for a movement to briug 



State Papeks of Abraham Lincoln. 401 

the State "back into the Union. On the 20th of January, 
a delegation of citizens from that State had an interview 
with the President, in which they urged the adoption of 
certain measures for the re-establishment of a legal State 
Government, and especially the ordering of an election for 
Governor. In consequence of this application, and in 
substantial compliance with their request, the President 
wrote the following letter to General Steele, who com- 
manded in that Department : — 

Executite Mansion, Washington, January 20, 1SG4. 
Major-General Steele : 

Sundry citizens of the State of Arkansas petition me that an election 
may be held in that State, at which to elect a Governor; that it he as- 
sumed at that election, and thenceforward, that the constitution and laws 
of the State, as before the rebellion, are in full force, except that the con- 
stitution is so modified as to declare that there shall be neither slavery 
nor involuntary servitude, except in the punishment of crimes whereof 
the party shall have been duly convicted ; that the General Assembly may 
make such provisions for the freed people as shall recognize and declare 
their permanent freedom, and provide for their education, and which may 
yet be construed as a temporary arrangement suitable to their condition 
as a laboring, landless, and homeless class ; that said election shall be 
held on the 28th of March, 1864, at all the usual places of the State, or all 
such as voters may attend for that purpose; that the voters attending at 
eight o'clock in the morning of said day may choose judges and clerks of 
election for such purpose ; that all persons qualified by said constitution 
and laws, and taking the oath presented in the President's proclamation 
of December 8, 1863, either before or at the election, and none others, 
may be voters; that each set of judges and clerks may make returns di- 
rectly to you. on or before the — th day of next; that in all other 

respects said election may be conducted according to said constitution 
and laws ; that on receipt of said returns, when five thousand four hun- 
dred and six votes shall have been cast, you can receive said votes, and 
ascertain all who shall thereby appear to have been elected ; that on the 

■ — th day of next, all persons so appearing to have been elected, 

who shall appear before you at Little Rock, and take the oath, to be by 
you severally administered, to support the Constitution of the United 
States and said modified Constitution of the State of Arkansas, may 
be declared by you qualified and empowered to enter immediately 
upon the duties of the offices to which they shall have been respectively 
elected. 

You will please order an election to take place on the 2Sth of MarcJi, 

1864, and returns to bo made in fifteen days thereafter. 

A. Lincoln. 



492 The Life, Public Services, and 

Upon the return of the delegation to Arkansas, tliey 
issued an address to the people of the State, urging them 
to avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded for 
restoring their State to its old prosperity, and assuring 
them, from personal observation, that the people of the 
Northern States would most cordially welcome their 
return to the Union. Meantime, a convention had as- 
sembled at Little Rock, composed of delegates elected 
"without any formality, and not under the authority of the 
General Government, and proceeded to form a new State 
Constitution, and to lix a day for an election. 

Upon being informed of this, the President seems to 
have sent orders to General Steele to help on this move- 
ment, and he telegraphed to the Provisional Government 
as follows : — ■ 

Washington, February 0, 1SG4. 

J. Mtupiiy : 

My order to General Steele, about an election, was made in ignorance 

of the action your convention had taken or would take. A snbseqiifeut 

letter directs General Steele to aid you on your own plan, and not to 

thwart or hinder yon. Show this to him. 

A. Lincoln. 

He also wrote the following letter to one of the most 
prominent citizens : — 

To William Fisiiback : 

When I fixed a plan for an election in Arkansas, I did it in ignorance 
that your convention was at the same work. Since I learned the latter 
fact, I have been constantly trying to yield my plan to theirs. I have 
sent two letters to General Steele, and three or four dispatches to you and 
others, saying that ho (General Steele) must be master, but that it will 
probably be best for him to keep the convention on its own plan. Some 
single mind must be master, else there will be no agreement on any thing ; 
and General Steele, commanding the military and being on the ground, 
is the best man to be that master. Even now citizens are telegraphing 
me to postpone the election to a later day than either fixed by the con- 
vention or me. This discord must be silenced. 

A. Lincoln. 

The dispatches to General Steele reached him both 
together, and only a few days before the day fixed by 
the convention for the election. All that he did, there- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 493 

tore, was to issue a proclamation calling on the people to 
come out and vote at the ensuing election. 

The convention framed a constitution abolishing sla- 
very, which was subsequently adopted by a large major- 
ity of the people. 

It also provided for the election of State officers on the 
day appointed for the vote upon the constitution ; and 
the legislature chosen at that election elected two gentle- 
men, Messrs. Fishback and Baxter, as United States 
Senators, and also Representatives. These gentlemen 
presented their credentials at Washington, whereupon Mr. 
Sumner offered the following resolution in the Senate : — 

Resolved, That a State pretending to secede from the Union, and bat- 
tling against the General Government to maintain that position, must be 
regarded as a rebel State, subject to military occupation, and without 
representation on this floor, until it has been readmitted by a vote of both 
Houses of Congress ; and the Senate will decline to entertain any appli- 
cation from any such rebel State until after such a vote of both Houses. 

The whole matter was referred to the Judiciary Com- 
mittee, who, without adopting the views of Mr. Sumner's 
resolution, reported on the 27th of June that on the facts it 
did not appear that the rebellion was so far suppressed in 
Arkansas as to entitle the State to representation in Con- 
gress, and that therefore Messrs. Fishback and Baxter 
were not entitled to seats as Senators from the State of 
Arkansas. And the Senate on the next day adopted their 
leport by a vote of twenty-seven to six. 

Tn the House, meanwhile, the Committee on Elections, to 
whom the application of the Arkansas members had been 
referred, reported to postpone their admission until a com- 
mission could be sent to inquire into and report the facts 
of the election, and to create a commission for the exami- 
nation of all such cases. This proposition was, however, 
laid on the table, and the members were not admitted. 
This action put to rest all question of the representation 
of the State in Congress till the next session. 

The cause of the rejection of these Senators and Repre- 
sentatives was, that a majority in Congress had not agreed 



404 The Life, Public Services, and 

with the President in reference to the plan of reconstruc- 
tion which he proposed. A bill for the reconstruction of 
the States was introduced into the Senate, and finally 
passed "both Houses on the last day of the session. It 
provided that the President should appoint, for each of 
the States declared in rebellion, a Provisional Governor, 
who should be charged with the civil administration of 
the State until a State Government should be organized, and 
such other civil officers as were necessary for the civil ad- 
ministration of the State ; that as soon as military resist- 
ance to the United States should be suppressed and the 
people had sufficiently returned to their obedience, the 
Governor should make an enrolment of the white male 
citizens, specifying which of them had taken the oath to 
support the Constitution of the United States, and if those 
who had taken it were a majority of the persons enrolled, 
he should order an election for delegates to a Constitu- 
tional Convention, to be elected by the loyal white male 
citizens of the United States aged twenty -one years and 
resident in the district for which they voted, or absent in 
the army of the United States, and who had taken the oath 
of allegiance prescribed by the act of Congress of July 2, 
1862 ; that this convention should declare, on behalf of 
the people of the State, their submission to the Constitution 
and laws of the United States, and adopt the following 
provisions, prescribed by Congress in the execution of 
its constitutional duty to guarantee to every State a re- 
publican form of government, viz.: — 

First. — No person who has held or exercised any office, civil or mili- 
tary, except offices merely ministerial and military offices below the grade 
of colonel, State or Confederate, nnder the usurping power, shall voto 
for or be a member of the Legislature or Governor. 

Second. — Involuntary servitude is forever prohibited, and the freedom 
of all persons is forever guaranteed in the State. 

Third. — No debt, State or Confederate, created by or under the sanc- 
tion of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the State. 

The bill further provided that when a constitution 
containing these provisions should have been framed by 
the convention and adopted by the popular vote, the 



* 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 495 

Governor should certify that fact to the President, who, 
after obtaining the assent of Congress, should recognize 
this Government so established as the Government of the 
State, and from that date senators and representatives and 
electors for President and Vice-President should be elected 
in the State. Further provisions were made for the dis- 
solution of the convention in case it should refuse to frame 
a constitution containing the above provisions, and the 
calling of another convention by order of the President 
whenever he should have reason to believe that the ma- 
jority were willing to adopt them ; and also for the civil 
administration of the State in the mean time, and the aboli- 
tion of slavery and the disfranchisement of rebel officers. 
This bill thus passed by Congress was presented to the 
President just before the close of the session, but was not 
signed by him. The reasons for his refusal to sign it he 
afterwards thought fit to make known, which he did by 
the following proclamation :— 

Whereas, at the late session, Congress passed a bill to guarantee to 
certain States whose Governments have been usurped or overthrown, a 
republican form of government, a copy of which is hereunto annexed. 
And, 

Whereas, the said bill was presented to the President of the United 
States for his approval, less than one hour before the sine die adjourn- 
ment of said session, and was not signed by him. And, 

Whereas, the said bill contains, among other things, a plan for restoring 
the States in rebellion to their proper practical relation in the Union, which 
plan expressed the sense of Congress upon that subject, and which plan 
it is now thought fit to lay before the people for their consideration : 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do 
proclaim, declare, and make known that while I am, as I was in December 
last, when by proclamation I propounded a plan for restoration, unpre- 
pared by a formal approval of this bill to be inflexibly committed to any 
single plan of restoration, and while I am also unprepared to declare that 
the Free State Constitutions and Governments already adopted and in- 
stalled in Arkansas and Louisiana, shall be set aside and held for naught, 
thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who have set up tho 
same as to further effort, or to declare a constitutional competency in 
Congress to abolish slavery in the States, but am at the same time sin- 
cerely hoping and expecting that a constitutional amendment abolishing 
slavery throughout the nation may be adopted: nevertheless, I am fuLj 
satisfied with tli3 system for restoration contained in the bill, as one very 



496 The Life, Public Services, and 

proper for the loyal people of any State choosing to adopt it, and that T 
am, and at all times shal' be, prepared to give the Executive aid and assist- 
ance to any such people, so soon as the military resistance to the United 
States shall have been suppressed in any such State, and the people 
thereof shall have sufficiently returned to their obedience to the Consti- 
tution and the laws of the United States — in which cases Military Gov- 
ernors will be appointed, with directions to proceed according to the bill. 
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this eighth day of July, in the 
[l. s.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and 
of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. 

Abkaiiam Lincoln. 
By the President : 

Wm. H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 

The relations of the war carried on to maintain the repub- 
lican government of the United States, against the efforts 
of the slaveholding oligarchy for its overthrow, to the 
general interests of labor, from time to time enlisted a 
good deal of the thoughts of the President, and elicited 
from him expressions of his own sentiments on the sub- 
ject. On the 31st of December, 18G3, a very large meet- 
ing of worldngmen was held at Manchester, England, to 
express their opinion in regard to the war in the United 
States. At that meeting an address to President Lincoln 
was adopted, expressing the kindest sentiments towards 
this country, and declaring that, since it had become evi- 
dent that the destruction of slavery was involved in the 
overthrow of the rebellion, their sympathies had been 
thoroughly and heartily with the Government of the 
United States in the prosecution of the war. This ad- 
dress was forwarded to the President through the Amer- 
ican Minister in London, and elicited the following re- 
V l J-~ 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 19, 1863. 
To the WorTcingmen of Manchester : 

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the address and reso- 
lutions which you sent me on the eve of the new year. When I came, 
on the 4th of March, 1861, through a free and constitutional election, to 
preside in the Government of the United States, the country was found 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 407 

at the verge of civil war. Whatever might have been the cause, or 
whosesoever the fault, one duty, paramount to all others, was before me, 
namely, to maintain and preserve at once the Constitution and the integ- 
rity of the Federal Republic. A conscientious purpose to perform this 
duty is the key to all the measures of administration which have been, 
and to all which will hereafter be pursued. Under our frame of govern- 
ment and my official oath, I could not depart from this purpose if I 
would. It is not always in the power of Governments to enlarge or re- 
strict the scope of moral results which follow the policies that they 
may deem it necessary, for the public safety, from time to time to 
adopt. 

I have understood well that the duty of self-preservation rests solely 
with the American people. But I have at the same time be^n aware 
that favor or disfavor of foreign nations might have a material influence 
in enlarging or prolonging the struggle with disloyal men in which the 
country is engaged. A fair examination of history has served to author- 
ize a belief that the past actions and influences of the United States woit 
generally regarded as having been beneficial towards mankind. I have. 
therefore, reckoned upon the forbearance of nations. Circumstances — 
to some of which you kindly allude — induced me especially to expect thar 
if justice and good faith should be practised by the United States, they 
would encounter no hostile influence on the part of Great Britain. It is 
now a pleasant duty to acknowledge the demonstration you have given 
of your desire that a spirit of amity and peace towards this country may 
prevail in the councils of your Queen, who is respected and esteemed in 
your own country only more than she is by the kindred nation which has 
its home on this side of the Atlantic. 

I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the workingmen at 
Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis. It has 
been often arid studiously represented that the attempt to overthrow this 
Government, which was built upon the foundation of human rights, and 
to substitute for it one which should rest exclusively on the basis of hu- 
man slavery, was likely to obtain the favor of Europe. Through the 
action of our disloyal citizens, the workingmen of Europe have been 
subjected to severe trials, for the purpose of forcing their sanction to that 
attempt. Under the circumstances, I cannot but regard your decisive 
utterances upon the question as an instance of sublime Christian heroism, 
which has not been surpassed in any ago or in any country. It is indeed 
an energetic and reinspiring assurance of the inherent power of truth, 
and of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity, and freo- 
dom. I do not doubt that the sentiments you have expressed will be 
sustained by your great nation ; and on the other hand, I have no hesita- 
tion in assuring you that they will excite admiration, esteem, and the 
most reciprocal feelings of friendship among the American people. I 
hail this interchange of sentiment, therefore, as an augury that whatever 
else may happen, whatever misfortune may befall your country or my 
32 



493 The Life, Public Services, anl 

own, the peace and friendship which now exist hetween the two nations 
will be, as it shall he my desire to make them, perpetual. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

The workingmen of London held a similar meeting at 
about the same time, and took substantially the same 
action. The President made the following response to 
their address : — 

Executive Mansion, February 2, 1SG3. 
To the Workingmen of London : 

I have received the New Year's Address which you have sent me, with 
ft sincere appreciation of the exalted and humane sentiments by which it 
was inspired. 

As these sentiments are manifestly the enduring support of the free 
institutions of England, so I am sure also that they constitute the only 
reliable basis for free institutions throughout the world. 

The resources, advantages, and powers of the American people are 
very great, and they have consequently succeeded to equally great respon- 
sibilities. It seems to have devolved upon them to test whether a gov- 
ernment established on the principles of human freedom can be main 
tained against an effort to build one upon the exclusive foundation of 
human bondage. They will rejoice with me in the new evidences which 
your proceedings furnish, that the magnanimity they are exhibiting is 
justly estimated by the true friends of freedom and humanity in foreign 
countries. 

Accept my best wishes for your individual welfare, and for the welfare 
and happiness of the whole British people. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

On the 21st of March, 1864, a committee from the Work- 
ingmen' s Association of the City of New York waited 
upon the President and delivered an address, stating the 
general objects and purposes of the Association, and re- 
questing that he would allow his name to be enrolled 
among its honorary members. To this address the Pres- 
ident made the following reply: — 

Gentlemen of the Committee: — The honorary membership in your 
association, as generously tendered, is gratefully accepted. 

You comprehend, as your address shows, that the existing rebellion 
means more and tends to do more than the perpetuation of African sla- 
very — that it is, in fact, a war upon the rights of all working people. 
Partly to show that this view has not escaped ray attention, and partly 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 499 

that I cannot better express myself, I read a passage from the message to 
Congress in December, 1861 : — 

" It continues to develop that the insurrection is largely, if not ex- 
clusively, a war upon the first principle of popular government, the rights 
of the people. Conclusive evidence of this is found in the most grave 
and maturely considered public documents, as well as in the general tone 
of the insurgents. In those documents we find the abridgment of tho 
existing right of suffrage, and the denial to the people of all right to par- 
ticipate in the selection of public officers, except the legislative, boldly 
advocated, with labored argument to prove that large control of the 
people in government is the source of all political evil. Monarchy itself 
is sometimes hinted at as a possible refuge from the power of the people. 

"In my present position I could scarcely be justified were I to omit 
raising a warning voice against this approach of returning despotism. 

" It is not needed, nor fitting here, that a general argument should bo 
made in favor of popular institutions; but there is one point, with its 
connections, not so hackneyed as most others, to which I ask a brief at- 
tention. It is the effort to place capital on an equal footing, if not above 
lahor, in the structure of government. It is assumed that labor is avail- 
able only in connection with capital; that nobody labors unless some- 
body else, owning capital, somehow by the use of it induces him to labor. 
This assumed, it is next considered whether it is best that capital sball 
hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their own consent, or buy 
them, and drive them to it without their consent. Having proceeded so 
far, it is naturally concluded that all laborers are either hired laborers, or 
what we call slaves. And, further, it is assumed that whoever is once a 
hired laborer, is fixed in that condition for life. Now there is no such 
relation between capital and labor as assumed, nor is there any such 
thing as a free man being fixed for life in the condition of a hired laborer. 
Both these assumptions are false, and all inferences from them are 
groundless. 

"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only tho 
fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. 
Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher considera- 
tion. Capital has its rights, which aro as worthy of protection as any 
other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, 
a relation between capital and labor, producing mutual benefits. The 
error is in assuming that tho whole labor of a community exists within 
that relation. A few men own capital, and that few avoid labor them- 
selves, and, with their capital, hire or buy another few to labor for them. 
A large majority belong to neither class — neither work for others, nor 
have others working for them. In most of the Southern States, a major- 
ity of the whole people, of all colors, are neither slaves nor masters ; while 
in the Northern, a large majority are neither hirers nor hired. Men with 
their families — wives, sons, and daughters — work for themselves, on their 
farms, in their houses, and in their shops, taking the whole product to 
themselves, and asking no favors of capital on the one hand, nor of hir^d 
laborers or slaves on the other. It is not forgotten that a considerable 
number of persons mingle their own labor with capital ; that is, they 
labor with their own hands, and also buy or hire others to labor for them, 
but this is only a mixed and not a distinct class. No principle stated ia 
disturbed by the existence of this mixed class. 

"Again, as has already been said, there is not, of necessity, any such 
thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life. 
Many independent men everywhere in these States, a few years back in 



500 The Life, Public Services, and 

their lives, were hired laborers. The prudent penniless beginner in the 
•world labors for wages a while, saves a surplus with which to buy tools 
or land for himself, then labors on his own account another while, and at 
length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just and 
generous and prosperous system which opens the way to all— gives hope 
to all, and consequent energy and progress, and improvement of condi- 
tion to all. No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those 
who toil up from poverty — none less inclined to touch or take aught 
which they have not honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering 
a political power they already possess, and which, if surrendered, will 
eurely be used to close the door of advancement against such as they, and 
to fix new disabilities and burdens upon them, till all of liberty shall be 
lost." 

The views then expressed remain unchanged, nor have I much to add. 
None are so deeply interested to resist the present rebellion as the work- 
ing people. Let them beware of prejudices, working division and hos- 
tility among thmselves. The most notable feature of a disturbance in 
your city last summer was the hanging of some working people by other 
working people. It should never be so. The strongest bond of human 
sympathy, outside of the family relation, should be ono uniting all work- 
ing people, of all nations, and tongues, and kindreds. Nor should this 
lead to a war upon property, or the owners of property. Property is the 
fruit of labor; property is desirable; is a positive good in the world. 
That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and, hence, 
is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is 
houseless pull down the house of another, but let him labor diligently 
and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall bo 
safe from violence when built. 

The President had always taken a deep interest in the 
volunteer movements of benevolent people throughout 
the country, for relieving the sufferings of the sick and 
wounded among our soldiers. A meeting of one of these 
organizations, the Christian Commission, was held at 
Washington, on the 22d of February, 1863, to which 
President Lincoln, unable to attend and preside, ad- 
dressed the following letter : — 

Executive Mansion, February 22, 1S03. 

Rev. Alexander Reed : 

My Dear Sir: — Your note, by which you, as General Superintendent 
of the United States Christian Commission, invite me to preside at a 
meeting to be hold this day, at the hall of the House of Representatives 
in this city, is received. 

While, for reasons which I deem sufficient, I must decline to preside, 
I caunot withhold my approval of the meeting, and its worthy objects. 
Whatever shall be, sincerely and in God's name, devised for the good 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 501 

of the soldiers and seamen in their hard spheres of duty, can scarcely 
fail to be blessed. And whatever shall tend to turn our thoughts from 
the unreasoning and uncharitable passions, prejudices, and jealousies 
incident to a great national trouble such as ours, and to fix them on the 
vast and long-enduring consequences, for weal or for woe, which are to 
result from the struggle, and especially to strengthen our reliance on tho 
Supreme Being for the final triumph of the right, cannot but be well for 
us all. 

The birthday of Washington and the Christian Sabbath coinciding thi3 
year, and suggesting together the highest interests of this life and of that 
to come, is most propitious for the meeting proposed. 

Your obedient servant, A. Lincoln. 

On the 16th of March, 1864, at the close of a fair in 
Washington, given at the Patent Office, for the benefit of 
the sick and -wounded soldiers of the army, President 
Lincoln, happening to he present, in response to loud and 
continuous calls, made the following remarks : — 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — I appear to Bay but a word. This extraoi • 
dinary war in which we are engaged falls heavily upon all clases of peo- 
ple, but the most heavily upon the soldier. For it has been said, all that a 
man hath will he give for his life ; and while all contribute of their 
substance, the soldier puts his life at stake, and often yields it up in his 
country's cause. The highest merit, then, is due to the soldier. 

In this extraordinary war, extraordinary developments have manifested 
themselves, such as have not been seen in former wars ; and among these 
manifestations nothing has been more remarkable than these fairs for the 
relief of suffering soldiers and their families. And the chief agents in 
these fairs are the women of America. 

I am not accustomed to the use of language of eulogy ; I have never 
studied the art of paying compliments to women ; but I must say, that 
if all that has been said by orators and poets since the creation of the 
world in praise of women were applied to the women of America, it 
would not do them justice for their conduct during this war. I will 
close by saying, God bless the women of A^merica! 

Still another occasion of a similar character occurred 
at Baltimore on the 18th of April, at the opening of a 
fair for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission. The 
President accepted an invitation to attend the opening 
exercises, and made the following remarks : — 

Ladies and Gentlemen : — Calling to mind that we are in Baltimore, 
we cannot fail to note that the world moves. Looking upon these many 
people assembled here to serve, as they best may, the soldiers of the 



502 The Life, Public Services, and 

Union, it occurs at once that three years ago the same soldiers could 
not so much as pass through Baltimore. The change from then till now 
is both great and gratifying. Blessings on the brave men who have 
wrought the change, and the fair women who strive to reward them 
for it I 

But Baltimore suggests more than could happen within Baltimore. 
The change within Baltimore is part only of a far wider change. When 
the war began, three years ago, neither party, nor any man, expected it 
would last till now. Each looked for the end, in some way, long ere to- 
day. Neither did any anticipate that domestic slavery would be much 
affected by the war. But here we are ; the war has not ended, and 
slavery has been much affected — how much needs not now to be re- 
counted. So true is it that man proposes and God disposes. 

But we can see the past, though we may not claim to have directed 
it ; and seeing it, in this case, we feel more hopeful and confident for the 
future. 

The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and 
the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all de- 
clare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the 
same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do 
as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor ; while with 
others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with 
other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not 
only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name, liberty. 
And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called 
by two different and incompatible names — liberty and tyranny. 

The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the 
eheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him 
for the same act, as the destroyer of liberty, especially as the sheep was 
a black one. Plainly, the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a 
definition of the word liberty ; and precisely the same difference prevails 
to-day among us human creatures, even in the North, and all professing 
to love liberty. Hence we behold the process by which thousands are 
daily passing from under the yoke of bondage hailed by some as the 
advance of liberty, and bewailed by others as the destruction of all 
liberty. Becently, as it seems, the people of Maryland have been doing 
something to define liberty, and thanks to them that, in what they have 
done, the wolf's dictionary has been repudiated. 

It is not very becoming for one in my position to make speeches at 
great length ; but there is another subject upon which I feel that I 
ought to say a word. A painful rumor, true, I fear, has reached us, of 
the massacre, by the rebel forces at Fort Pillow, in the west end of 
Tennenseo, on the Mississippi River, of some three hundred colored sol- 
diers and white officers, who had just been overpowered by their assail- 
ants. There seems to be some anxiety in the public mind whether the 
Government is doing its duty to the colored soldier, and to the service, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 503 

at this point. At the hegiuning of the war, and for some time, uhe nr»e 
of colored troops was not contemplated ; and how the change of purpose 
was wrought, I will not now take time to explain. Upon a clear con- 
viction of duty, I resolved to turn that element of strength to account ; 
and I am responsible for it to the American people, to the Christian 
world, to history, and on my final account to God. Having determined 
to use the negro as a soldier, there is no way but to give him all the 
protection given to any other soldier. The difficulty is not in stating 
the principle, but in practically applying it. It is a mistake to suppose 
the Government i3 indifferent to this matter, or is not doing the best it 
can in regard to it. We do not to-day know that a colored soldier, or 
white officer commanding colored soldiers, has been massacred by the 
rebels when made a prisoner. "We fear it, helieve it, I may say, but wo 
do not know it. To take the life of one of their prisoners on the assump- 
tion that they murder ours, when it is short of certainty that they do 
murder ours, might be too serious, too cruel a mistake. We are having 
the Fort Pillow affair thoroughly investigated ; and such investigation 
will probably show conclusively how the truth is. If, after all that has 
been said, it shall turn out that there has been no massacre at Fort 
Pillow, it will be almost safe to say there has been none, and will be 
none elsewhere. If there has been the massacre of three hundred there, 
or even the tenth part of three hundred, it will be conclusively proven ; 
and being so proven, the retribution shall as surely come. It will be 
matter of grave consideration in what exact course to apply the retribu- 
tion ; but in he supposed case, it must come. 

In June, the President attended a similar fair at Phila- 
delphia, one of the largest that was held in all the conn 
try. At a supper given to him there, the health of the 
President having "been proposed as a toast, the President 
said in acknowledgment : — 

I suppose that this toast is intended to open the way for me to say 
something. War at the best is terrible, and this of ours in its magnitude 
and duration is one of the most terrible the world has ever known. It 
has deranged business totally in many places, and perhaps in all. It has 
destroyed property, destroyed life, and ruined homes. It has produced a 
national debt and a degree of taxation unprecedented in the history of 
this country. It has caused mourning among us until the heavens may 
almost be said to be hung in black. And yet it continues. It has had 
accompaniments not before known in the history of the world. I mean 
the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, with their labors for the relief of 
the soldiers, and the Volunteer Refreshment Saloons, understood better by 
those who hear me than by myself — (applause) — and these fairs, first begun at 
Chicago and next held in Boston, Cincinnati, and other cities. The motive 



50-1 The Life, Public Services, and 

and object that lie at the bottom of them is worthy of the most that we 
can do for the soldier who goes to fight the battles of his country. From 
the fair and tender hand of women is much, very much done for the 
eoldier, continually reminding him of the care and thought for him at 
home. The knowledge that he is not forgotten is grateful to his heart. 
(Applause.) Another view of these institutions is worthy of thought. 
They are voluntary contributions, giving proof that the national resources 
are not at all exhausted, and that the national patriotism will sustain us 
through all. It is a pertinent question, When is this war to end ? I do 
not wisli to name a day when it will end, lest the end should not come at 
the given time. "We accepted this war, and did not begin it. (Deafening 
applause.) We accepted it for an object, and when that object is accom- 
plished the war will end, and I hope to God that it will never end until 
that object is accomplished. (Great applause.) We are going through 
with our task, so far as I am concerned, if it takes us three years longer. 
I have not been in the habit of making predictions, but I am almost 
tempted now to hazard one. I will. It is, that Grant is this evening in a 
position, with Meade and Hancock, of Pennsylvania, whence he can never 
be dislodged by the enemy until Eichmond is taken. If I shall discover 
that General Grant may be greatly facilitated in the capture of Richmond, 
by rapidly pouring to him a large number of armed men at the briefest 
notice, will you go? (Cries of " Yes.") Will you march on with him ? (Cries 
of " Yes, yes.") Then I shall call upon you when it is necessary. ( Laughter 
and applause, during which the President retired from the table.) 

It became manifest, soon after the commencement of 
the war, that its progress would inevitably have the effect 
of freeing very many, if not all, the slaves of the South- 
ern States. The President's attention was therefore 
directed at an early day to the proper disposition of those 
who should thus be freed. As his messages show, he 
was strongly in favor of colonizing them, with their own 
consent, in some country where they could be relieved 
from the embarrassments occasioned by the hostile preju- 
dices of the whites, and enter upon a career of their own. 
In consequence of his urgent representations upon this 
subject, Congress at its session of 1862 passed an act pla- 
cing at his disposal the sum of six hundred thousand dol- 
lars, to be expended, in his discretion, in removing, with 
their own consent, free persons of African descent to some 
country which they might select as adapted to their* con- 
dition and necessities. 

On the 14th of August, 1SG2, the President received a 



• . State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 505 

deputation of colored persons, with whom he had an inter- 
view on the subject, of which one of the parties interested 
has made the following record :— 

Washington, Thursday, August 14, 18C2. 

This afternoon the President of the United States gave an audience- to 
a committee of colored men at the White House. They were introduced 
by Rev. J. Mitchell, Commissioner of Emigration. E. M. Thomas, the 
chairman, remarked that they were there by invitation to hear what tho 
Executive had to say to them. 

Having all been seated, the President, after a few preliminary observa- 
tions, informed them that a sum of money had been appropriated by Con- 
gress, and placed at his disposition, for the purpose of aiding the coloniza- 
tion iu some country, of the people, or a portion of them, of African 
descent, thereby making it his duty, as it had for a long time been his in- 
clination, to favor that cause. And why, he asked, should the people of 
your race be colonized, and where ? Why should they leave this country ? 
This is, perhaps, the first question for proper consideration. You and wo 
are different races. We have between us a broader difference than exists 
between almost any other two races. Whether it is right or wrong I need 
not discuss ; but this physical difference is a great disadvantage to us 
both, as I think. Your race suffer very greatly, many of them by living 
among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word, we suffer on 
each side. If this is admitted, it affords a reason, at least, why we should 
be separated. You here are freemen, I suppose. 

A voice — Yes, sir. 

The President — Perhaps you have long been free, or all your lives. 
Your race are suffering, in my judgment, the greatest wrong inflicted on 
any people. But even when you cease to be slaves, you are yet far re- 
moved from being placed on an equality with the white race. You aro 
cut off from many of the advantages which the other race enjoys. The 
aspiration of men is to enjoy equality with the best when free, but on this 
broad continent not a single man of your race is made the equal of a 
eingle man of ours. Go where you are treated the best, and the ban is 
still upon you. I do not propose to discuss this, but to present it as a fact, 
with which we have to deal. I cannot alter it if I would. It is a fact 
about which we all think and feel alike, I and you. We look to our con- 
dition. Owing to the existence of the two races on this continent, I need 
not recount to you the effects upon white men, growing out of the insti- 
tution of slavery. I believe in its general evil effects on the white race. 
See our present condition — the country engaged in war! our white men 
cutting one another's throats — none knowing how far it will extend — and 
then consider what we know to be the truth. But for your race among 
us there could not be war, although many men engaged on either side do 
not care for you one way or the other. Nevertheless, I repeat, without 



50G The Life, Public Services, and 

the institution of slavery, and the colored race as a basis, the war could 
not have an existence. It is better for us both, therefore, to be separated. 
I know that there are free men among you who, even if they could better 
their condition, are not as much inclined to go out of the country as those 
who, being slaves, could obtain their freedom on this condition. I suppose 
one of the principal difficulties in the way of colonization is, that the freo 
colored man cannot see that his comfort would be advanced by it. You 
may believe that you can live in Washington, or elsewhere in the United 
States, the remainder of your life; perhaps more so than you can in any 
foreign country; and hence you may come to the conclusion that you have 
nothing to do with the idea of going to a foreign country. This is (I 
speak in no unkind sense) an extremely selfish view of the case. But you 
ought to do something to help those who are not so fortunate as your- 
selves. There is an unwillingness on the part of our people, harsh as it 
may be, for you free colored people to remain with us. Now if you could 
give a start to the white people, you would open a wide door for many to 
be made free. If we deal with those who are not free at the beginning, 
and whose intellects are clouded by slavery, we have very poor material 
to start with. If intelligent colored men, such as are before me, would 
move in this matter, much might be accomplished. It is exceedingly im- 
portant that we have men at the beginning capable of thinking as white 
men, and not those who have been systematically oppressed. There is 
much to encourage you. For the sake of your race you should sacrifice 
something of your present comfort for the purpose of being as grand in 
that respect as the white people. It is a cheering thought throughout 
life, that something can be done to ameliorate the condition of those who 
have been subject to the hard usages of the world. It is difficult to make 
a man miserable while he feels he is worthy of himself and claims kindred 
to the great God who made him. In the American Revolutionary War 
sacrifices were made by men engaged in it, but they were cheered by the 
future. General "Washington himself endured greater physical hardships 
than if he had remained a British subject, yet he was a happy man, be- 
cause he was engaged in benefiting his race ; in doing something for the 
children of his neighbors, having none of his own. 

The colony of Liberia has been in existence a long time. In a certain 
sense, it is a success. The old President of Liberia, Roberts, has just been 
with me, the first time I ever saw him. lie says they have within the 
bounds of that colony between three and four hundred thousand people, 
or more than in some of our old States, such as Rhode Island or Delaware, 
or in some of our newer States, and less than in some of our larger ones. 
They are not all American colonists or their descendants. Something less 
than twelve thousand have been sent thither from this country. Many of 
the original settlers have died, yet, like people elsewhere, their offspring 
outnumber those deceased. The question is, if the colored people are 
persuaded to go anywhere, why not there? One reason for unwillingness 
to do so is, that some of you would rather remuin within reach of tho 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 507 

country of your nativity. I do not know how much attachment you may 
have towards our race. It does not strike me that you have the greatest 
reason to love them. But still you are attached to them at all events. 
The place I am thinking about having for a colony, is in Central America. 
It is nearer to us than Liberia— not much more than one-fourth as far as 
Liberia, and within seven days' run by steamers. Unlike Liberia, it is a 
great line of travel — it is a highway. The country is a very excellent one 
for any people, and with great natural resources and advantages, and espe- 
cially because of the similarity of climate with your native soil, thus being 
suited to your physical condition. The particular place I have in view is 
to be a great highway from the Atlantic or Caribbean Sea to the Pacific 
Ocean, and this particular place has all the advantages for a colony. On 
both sides there are harbors among the finest in the world. Again, there 
is evidence of very rich coal mines. A certain amount of coal is valuable 
in any country, and there may be more than enough for the wants of any 
country. Why I attach so much importance to coal is, it will afford an 
opportunity to the inhabitants for immediate employment till they get 
ready to settle permanently in their homes. If you take colonists where 
there is no good landing, there is a bad show ; and so where there is noth- 
ing to cultivate, and of which to make a farm. But if something is 
started so that you can get yonr daily bread as soon as you reach there, it 
is a great advantage. Coal land is the best thing I know of with which 
to commence an enterprise. To return — you have been talked to upon 
this subject, and told that a speculation is intended by gentlemen who 
have an interest in the country, including the coal mines. We have been 
mistaken all our lives if we do not know whites, as well as blacks, look 
to their self-interest. Unless among those deficient of intellect, everybody 
you trade with makes something. You meet with these things here and 
everywhere. If such persons have what will be an advantage to them, 
the question is, whether it cannot be made of advantage to you ? You 
are intelligent, and know that success does not as much depend on external 
help as on self-reliance. Much, therefore, depends upon yourselves. As 
to the coal mines, I think I see the means available for your self-reliance. 
I shall, if I get a sufficient number of you engaged, have provision made 
that you shall not be wronged. If you will engage in the enterprise, I 
will spend some of the money intrusted to me. I am not sure you will 
Bucceed. The Government may lose the money, but we cannot succeed 
unless we try ; but we think with care we can succeed. The political 
affairs in Central America are not in quite as satisfactory condition as j 
wish. There are contending factions in that quarter ; but it is true, all 
the factions are agreed alike on the subject of colonization, and want it, 
and are more generous than we are here. To your colored race they have 
no objection. Besides, I would endeavor to have you made equals, and 
have the best assurance that yon should be the equals of the best. The 
nractical thing I want to ascertain is, whether I can get a number of able- 
oodied men, with their wives and children, who are willing to go, when 






60S The Life, Public Services, and 

I present evidence of encouragement and protection. Could I get a hun- 
dred tolerably intelligent men, with their wives and children, and able to 
"cut their own fodder," so to speak? Can I have fifty? If I could find 
twenty-five able-bodied men, with a mixture of women and children — 
good tinners in the family relation, I think — I could make a successful 
commencement. I want you to let me know whether this can be done or 
not. This is the practical part of my wish to see you. These are sub- 
jects of very great importance — worthy of a month's study, of a speech 
delivered in an hour. I ask you, then, to consider seriously, not pertain- 
ing to yourselves merely, nor for your race and ours for the present time, 
but as one of the things, if successfully managed, for the good of mankind 
— not confined to the present generation, but as 

" From age to age descends the lay 
To millions yet to be, 
Till far its echoes roll away 
Into eternity." 

The above is merely given as the substance of the President's remarks. 

The chairman of the delegation briefly replied, that "they would hold 
a consultation, and in a short time give an answer." The President said, 
"Take your full time — no hurry at all." 

The delegation then withdrew. 

Ill pursuance of his plans of colonization, an agreement 
was entered into by the President, September 12, 1802, 
with A. W. Thompson, for the setlement, by free colored 
emigrants from the United States, of a tract of country 
within the Republic of New Grenada — the region referred 
to by the President in his remarks quoted above ; and the 
Hon. S. E. Pomeroy, a senator from Kansas, proposed to 
accompan} r and superintend the expedition. The sum of 
twenty-live thousand dollars was advanced to him from 
the colonization fund, but it was soon after discovered 
that the Government of New Grenada objected to the 
landing of these emigrants upon its territory, and the 
project was abandoned. 

In April, 1S83, an agreement was made with responsible 
and highly respectable parties in New York for the colo- 
nization of He a Vache, within the Republic of Hayti, of 
which a favorable grant had been made by the Govern- 
ment — and which was represented in the published report 
of the Commissioner of Emigration in the Dejmrtment c f 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 509 

the Interior, as being in every way adapted to the culture 
of cotton and other tropical products, and as eminently 
favorable for such an experiment. The Government 
agreed to pay fifty dollars each for the removal of the 
consenting emigrants thither— payment to be made on 
official certificate of their arrival. The contractors fulfilled 
their portion of the agreement with fidelity, and to the 
utmost extent of their ability ; but after an expenditure 
of about eighty thousand dollars, it was discovered that 
the representations of the fertility of the island had been 
utterly unfounded, and that the enterprise was hopeless. 
The agent of the company, moreover, through whom the 
Government had made the original contract, proved to be 
utterly untrustworthy and incapable, and was removed. 
The Government at last brought the negroes back to the 
United States, but incurred no additional expense, as it 
declined to pay the contractors the stipulated sum for the 
removal of the emigrants, or to reimburse them any por- 
tion of the moneys expended in the enterprise. 

No further experiments were made in the matter of col- 
onization ; but the disposition and employment of the 
negroes engaged a good deal of the attention and solicitude 
of the Government. When the rebellion first broke out 
there were many persons who insisted- upon the instant 
emancipation of the slaves, and their employment in arms 
against the rebels of the Southern States. Public senti- 
ment, however, was by no means prepared for the adop- 
tion of such a measure. The Administration, upon its 
advent to power, was compelled to encounter a wide- 
spread distrust of its general purposes in regard to slavery, 
and especial pains were taken by the agents and allies of 
the rebellion to alarm the sensitive apprehensions of the 
Border States upon this subject. The President, there- 
fore, deemed it necessary, in order to secure that unity 
of sentiment without which united and effective action 
against the rebellion was felt to be impossible, to exclude 
from the contest all issues of a secondary nature, and to 
fasten the attention and thought of the whole country 
upon the paramount end and aim of the war — the restora- 



510 The Life, Public Services, and 

tion of the Union and the authority of the Constitution of 
the United States. How steadily and carefully this policy 
was pursued, the preceding pages of this record will show. 
But as the war went on, and the desperate tenacity of 
the rebel resistance became more manifest— as the held 
of operations, both military and political, became enlarged, 
and the elements of the rebel strength were better under- 
stood, the necessity of dealing with the question of slavery 
forced itself upon the people and the Government. The 
legislation of Congress, from time to time, represented and 
embodied these advancing phases of public opinion. At 
the extra session of 1SG1 a law was passed, discharging 
from slavery every slave who should be required or per- 
mitted by his master to take up arms against the United 
States, or to be employed in any military capacity in the 
rebel service. At the next session the President was 
authorized to employ persons of African descent in the sup- 
pression of the rebellion, "in such manner as he should 
judge best for the public welfare," and also to issue a 
proclamation commanding all persons in rebellion against 
the United States to lay down their arms and return to 
their allegiance ; and if any persons so warned should be 
found in rebellion thirty days after the date of such proc- 
lamation, the President was authorized to set free their 
slaves. Under these comprehensive acts the President 
took such steps on the subject as he believed the necessities 
of the country required, and as the public sentiment of 
the country would sustain. The Emancipation Proclama- 
tion was issued on the 1st of January, 1863, and measures 
were adopted soon afterwards to provide for the changes 
which it made inevitable. On the 20th of January, the 
Secretary of War authorized Governor Andrew, of Mas- 
sachusetts, to enlist volunteers for three years, and to in- 
clude persons of African descent, organized into a separate 
corps. In April, negro troops were enlisted by Adjutant- 
General Thomas for service in Arkansas, and on the loth 
of that month he issued an order appointing commissioners 
to superintend the execution of a policy which the Gov- 
ernment had adopted for committing the protection of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 511 

"banks of the Mississippi to a negro force. On the 22d 
of May, orders were issued by the Secretary of War 
creating a Bureau of the War Department for all matters 
relating to the organization of colored troops, and estab- 
lishing rules for their enlistment, and for the appoint- 
ment of officers to command them. And on the 20th of 
August, Hon. J. Holt, Judge- Advocate General, sent to 
the President an official opinion, to the effect that, under 
the laws of Congress on the subject, he had full authority 
to enlist slaves for service in the army precisely as he 
might enlist any other persons — providing for compensa- 
tion to loyal owners whose property might thus be taken 
for the public service. 

These were the initial steps of a movement for the 
employment of negro troops, which has gone forward 
steadily ever since, until, as has been seen from the 
President's Message, over one hundred thousand negro 
soldiers were already in the army of the United States, 
contributing largely, by their courage and good conduct, 
to the suppression of the rebellion, which sought the 
perpetual enslavement of their race. The popular preju- 
dice against their employment in the army, which was 
so potent at the beginning, gradually gave way, even in 
the slaveholding States, to a more just estimate of the 
necessities of the emergency and the capacities of the 
negro race. And what was of still more importance to 
the welfare of the country, the people of the slavehold- 
ing States took up the question of slavery for discussion 
and practical action, as one in which their own well- 
being, present and prospective, was deeply involved. 
The Union party in every Southern State favored the 
abolition of slavery, and in Missouri, Maryland, Louisi- 
ana, and Arkansas, measures were speedily taken for the 
overthrow of an institution which had proved so detri- 
mental to their interests, and so menacing to the unity of 
the nation and the stability of republican institutions. 

In all of them Constitutional Conventions were held, 
and clauses inserted in the constitutions which were 
adopted, utterly abolishing slavery ; and these constitu- 



512 The Life, Public Services, and 

tions were all submitted to the popular vote, with the 
following results : — 

For. Against. 

Maryland 30,174 29,799 

Louisiana 0,836 1,506 

Arkansas 12,177 226 

Missouri 43,670 41,808 

In the latter State, the Constitution adopted in 1864 
was, by a new Convention, held in January, 1865, revised 
and amended, and submitted to the popular vote on June 
6, 1805, and ratified as above. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 513 

CHAPTER XVII. 

MILITARY EVENTS OP THE SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1364. 

Battle of Olustee. — Kii Patrick's Raid on Richmond. — The Red River 
Expedition. — The Fop.t Pillow Massacre.— Rebel Atrocities. — Gen- 
eral Grant's Advance upon Richmond. — Battles in May. — Sher- 
man's March to Atlanta. — Rebel Raids in Maryland and Ken- 
tucky. — Siege of Petersburg. — Martial Law in Kentucky. — Draft 
for 500,000 Men. — Capture of Mobile and Atlanta. 

The position of the two great armies of the United 
States at the opening of the year 1864 plainly indicated 
that the main interest of the military movements of the 
year was to be with the Army of the Potomac, which lay 
around Culpepper Conrt-House, still looking towards 
Richmond with unfaltering determination; and with the 
great Army of the West, which was gathering around 
Chattanooga for its long and perilous southward march. 
During the month of January little was done anywhere 
except to prepare for the coming campaign. Neither of 
the grand armies made any movement during February 
or March, but some smaller expeditions were set on 
foot. 

As early as the 15th of December, 1863, General Gill- 
more, commanding the Department of the South, had 
applied to the Government for permission to send an 
expedition into Florida, for the purpose of cutting off 
supplies of the enemy ; and in January, in urging the 
matter still further upon the attention of General Halleck, 
he suggested that measures might be also inaugurated for 
restoring the State of Florida to her allegiance under the 
terms of the President's Proclamation. General Gillmore 
was authorized to take such action in the matter as he 
should deem proper ; and he according] y organized an 
expedition, which left Port Royal on the 5th of Feb- 
ruary, under General Seymour, and was followed soon 
afterwards by General Gillmore himself— to whom, on 

33 



514 The Life, Public Services, and 



the 13th of January, the President had addressed the 
following letter : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 13, ISOt. 

Major-General Gillmore: 

I understand an effort is being made by some worthy gentlemen to 
reconstruct a legal State Government in Florida. Florida is in your 
Department, and it is not unlikely you may be there in person. I havo 
given Mr. Hay a commission of major, and sent him to you, with some 
blank-books and other blanks, to aid in the reconstruction. He will ex- 
plain as to the manner of using the blanks, and also my general views on 
the subject. It is desirable for all to co-operate, but if irreconcilable 
differences of opinion shall arise, you are master. I wish the thing done 
in the most speedy way, so that when done it be within the range of the 
late proclamation on the subject. The detail labor will, of course, have 
to be done by others ; but I will be greatly obliged if you will give it 
such general supervision as you can find consistent with your more 
strictly military duties. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

The advance portion of the expedition reached Jack- 
sonville on the 8th of February. General Gillmore re- 
turned to Port Royal on the 16th, leaving the command 
of the expedition to General Seymour. The first opera- 
tions were successful. Near Jacksonville one hundred 
prisoners, with eight pieces of serviceable artillery, fell 
into our hands, and expeditions were pushed forward 
into the interior, by which large amounts of stores and 
supplies were destroyed. On the 17th, General Seymour, 
with five thousand men, was on the Florida Central 
Railroad, about forty-five miles from Jacksonville. Here 
they remained until the 20th, when the preparations for 
a movement towards Lake City were completed. The 
enemy was found in force, a little before reaching Lake 
City, at Olustee, a small station on the railroad. The 
engagement was commenced between the enemy' s skir- 
mishers and our advance. The fire directed against our 
men was so hot that they were compelled to fall back ; 
then we brought two batteries to bear on the enemy, and 
our whole force became engaged with more than twice 
their number of the rebels, who occupied a strong posi- 
tion, flanked by a marsh. Again we retreated, taking 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 515 

another position ; but it was impossible to contend with 
a force so greatly superior, and, after a battle of three 
hours and a half, General Seymour retired, leaving 
his dead and severely wounded on the field. Five guns 
were lost, and about a thousand men killed, wounded, 
and missing. 

On the 3d of February, General Sherman, with a strong 
force, set out from Vicksburg, in light marching order, 
and moved eastward. Shortly after, a cavalry expedi- 
tion, under General Smith, set out from Memphis, to 
work its way southeastward, and join Sherman some- 
where on the borders of Mississippi and Alabama. By 
the 18th, Smith had accomplished nearly one-half of his 
proposed march, but soon after found the enemy concen- 
trated in superior force in his front. Finding it impossi- 
ble to proceed, he fell back, destroying the bridges on 
the Memphis and Ohio Railroad in his retreat. There 
was continual skirmishing, but no decisive battle, during 
the retreat, which lasted until the 25th, when the expe- 
dition accomplished its return to Memphis. Much dam- 
age was done to the enemy by the destruction of property, 
but the main object of making a junction with Sherman 
failed. Sherman went as far east as Meridian, almost on 
the borders of Mississippi and Alabama, and after de- 
stroying large quantities of rebel stores, and breaking 
their lines of communication, he returned to Vicksburg. 

Another enterprise was a raid upon Richmond, made 
by a large cavalry force under General Kilpatrick. 
Leaving his camp on the 28th of February, he crossed 
the Rapidan, gained the rear of Lee's army without being 
discovered, and pushed rapidly on in the direction of 
Richmond. A detachment under Colonel Dahlgren was 
sent from the main body to Frederick's Hall, on the 
Virginia Central Railroad. The road was torn up for 
some distance ; then the James River Canal was struck, 
and six grist-mills, which formed one of the main sources 
of supply for the Confederate army, were destroyed. Sev- 
eral locks on the canal were blown up, and other dam- 
age done. Dahlgren' s main body then pressed onward to- 



516 The Life, Public Services, and 

wards Richmond, and came within three miles of the city, 
when, encountering a Confederate force, it was compelled 
to withdraw, Dahlgren himself "being killed, and a large 
part of his force captured. Kilpatrick, meanwhile, 
pressed onward to Spottsylvania Court-House, and thence 
to Beaver Dam, near where the two lines of railway from 
Richmond, those running to Gordonsville and Freder- 
icksburg, cross. Here the railway was torn up, and the 
telegraph line cut, and the cavalry pushed straight on 
towards Richmond. They reached the outer line of 
fortifications at a little past ten on the morning of the 1st 
of March, about three and a half miles from the city. 
These were fairly passed, and the second line, a mile 
nearer, was reached, and a desultory fire was kept up for 
some hours. Towards evening Kilpatrick withdrew, and 
encamped six miles from the city. In the night an 
artillery attack was made upon the camp, and our troops 
retired still farther, and on the following morning took 
up their line of march down the Peninsula towards 
Williamsburg. Several miles of railway connection of 
great importance to the enemy were interrupted, stores to 
the value of several millions of dollars were destroyed, 
and some hundreds of prisoners were captured, as the 
result of this expedition. 

In the early part, of March, General Banks organized 
an expedition with all the available force of the army and 
navy in his department, to move up the Red River as 
far as Shreveport, where the rebels had large supplies, 
and where it was intended that he should be joined by 
General Steele, with the forces which he could collect in 
Arkansas, when the combined armies would be power- 
ful enough to sweep away all rebel opposition in that 
part of the State, if not in Texas. 

A force of about ten thousand men, under command of 
General A. J. Smith, left Vicksburg on the 10th of 
March in twenty transports, and, having joined the fleet, 
proceeded up the Red River. This portion of the expe- 
dition met with a decided success in the capture of Fort 
De Russey by storm, with but little loss, by which cap- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 517 

ture the river was opened to the fleet as far as Alexan- 
dria, where the whole expedition was united under com- 
mand of General Banks. On the 26th of March they 
moved forward, meeting with uninterrupted success, as far 
as Natchitoches, some eighty miles above Alexandria. But 
at Sabine Cross- Roads, about twenty miles farther up, 
they found the rebel army posted, under the command of 
General Dick Taylor. This resistance had not been anti- 
cipated : the army was not marching compactly, nor could 
the gunboats be of any assistance, on account of the dis- 
tance of the river from the road. 

The consequence was, that the Thirteenth Corps of our 
army, being too far in advance to receive proper support, 
was attacked by the rebels in superior force and driven 
back upon the Nineteenth Corps, which had formed in line 
of battle, and which repulsed the advancing enemy with 
great slaughter. This battle was fought on the Sth of 
April. That night General Banks determined to fall 
back to Pleasant Hill, at which point two other divisions, 
under General A. J. Smith, had arrived. Here our 
forces were attacked, about five o' clock in the afternoon 
of the next day. The rebels at first gained some advan- 
tage, pressing the Nineteenth Corps back up a hill, 
behind the crest of which lay General Smith's troops, by 
whose unexpected and destructive fire the rebel lines of 
battle, as they came over the crest, were suddenly ar- 
rested. A rapid charge of the Union troops put the rebels 
entirely to flight, with a loss of several thousand killed 
and wounded, many hundred prisoners, and some guns, 
most of which, however, had been taken from us by the 
rebels the day before. 

Our own army, however, was so shattered in the two 
battles, that General Banks ordered a retreat of the entire 
force to Grand Ecore, some forty miles below. The 
water in the Red River being unusually low, and falling, 
it was found necessary to remove the fleet, and with it 
the army, still farther down the river to Alexandria. On 
the way down, the gunboat Eastport having got aground, 
had to be abandoned, and was blown up. 



518 The Life, Public Services, and 

General Steele, in consequence of the retreat of Gen- 
eral Banks, was liimself compelled to fall back to Little 
Rock, which he reached without much fighting, but with 
the loss of a good deal of material. 

The water in the Red River continued to fall until it 
was found that there was not water enough on the falls 
at Alexandria to allow the gunboats to pass over. The 
rebels were enabled to throw forces below, so as to impede 
the communication with the army by the river, and as 
it became evident that the army must retreat still far- 
ther, the gravest apprehensions were felt lest the whole 
fleet of twelve gunboats should be of necessity, aban- 
doned to the rebels, or blown up. In this extremity, a 
plan was devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, of the 
Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, Acting Engineer of the Nine- 
teenth Corps, of building a series of dams on the falls, 
by which to raise the water sufficiently to allow the gun- 
boats to pass over. The plan was ridiculed by some of 
the best engineers ; but under the approval of Commo- 
dore Porter, who commanded the fleet, and General 
Banks, it was tried with perfect success. The dams were 
built within ten days, and all the gunboats brought safely 
over. Commodore Porter, in his report, says, "Words 
are inadequate to express the admiration I feel for Col- 
onel Bailey. * * * Leaving out his ability as an engineer 
and the credit he has conferred upon the country, he has 
saved the Union a valuable fleet, worth nearly $2,000,000, 
and has deprived the enemy of a triumph which would 
have emboldened them to carry on this war a year or 
two longer." Colonel Bailey was at once appointed by 
the President a brigadier-general for these distinguished 
services. 

After this escape, the fleet and the army retreated 
down the river. The fleet lost two small gunboats by 
rebel batteries on the way down ; but the army, though 
attacked several times, repulsed the rebels with consider- 
able loss, and crossed the Atchafalaya in safety, on the 
19th of May. 

About the time of the check which General Banks re- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 519 

ceived at Sabine Cross-Roads, the arms of the Union 
met "with reverses in two other quarters. One of these 
"was the capture of Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi, on 
the 12th of April, by a rebel force under General Forrest, 
a capture marked in the history of the war by the atro- 
cious butchery of the garrison after the surrender of the 
place. The garrison "Was composed of about six hun- 
dred men under command of Major Boyd, who was 
killed near the close of the fight. Of these six hundred 
about three hundred and fifty Were colored troops. The 
attack was commenced in the early morning, and the gar- 
rison were driven from some outworks into the fort 
itself, which they defended with the assistance of a gun- 
boat, till about four p. m., when the rebels made a final 
charge upon the fort from positions which they had occu- 
pied by taking advantage of a flag of truce sent to the 
fort to demand its surrender, and carried its defences by 
storm. The garrison thereupon threw down their arms 
and surrendered, but were shot down in cold blood until 
but few were left alive. Some were forced to stand up 
in line and were then shot. Some were shot when lying- 
wounded on the ground. Women and children were 
shot or cut to pieces. The huts in which the sick and 
wounded had taken refuge were fired over their heads, 
and there were stories of even darker cruelties than these. 
Of the white officers who commanded the colored troops, 
but tw^o were left alive, and these were wounded. Of the 
garrison there were left thirty-six white men and twenty- 
one negroes, and forty were carried off as prisoners. Some 
of the negroes saved their lives by feigning death and 
digging out from the thin covering of earth which the 
rebels had thrown over their victims. 

The news of this atrocity excited the deepest horror 
throughout the country, and there was a general call for 
retaliation. In order to have an authentic statement of 
the facts, Congress passed resolutions directing the Com • 
mittee on the Conduct of the War to investigate the mat 
ter. The committee sent two of its members, Senator 
Wade and Mr. Gooch, to the spot. They examined many 



520 The Life, Public Services, and 

witnesses, and on the 5th of May made their report, with 
the testimony whicli they had taken. The report showed 
that this proceeding of the reTbels was in pursuance of a 
policy deliberately adopted, in the expectation of driving 
from the ranks of the Union armies not only the negroes, 
"but also the "home-made Yankees," as they termed the 
loyal Southerners. 

The massacre was referred to "by the President in his 
speech at the opening of the Sanitary Commission Fair, 
in Baltimore, while it was still under investigation, and 
he then said that if the massacre was proved to have "been 
committed, retribution should surely come ; nor was this 
the first time that the question of retaliation had been 
brought to his attention. In fact, as early as July, 18G3, 
the subject had been considered, and the conclusion 
whicli was then arrived at was announced in the follow- 
ing General Order :— 

Executive Mansion, Washington, July HO, 1SC3. 

It is the duty of every Government to give protection to its citizens, of 
whatever class, color, or condition, and especially to those Mho are duly 
organized as soldiers in the puhlic service. The law of nations and tho 
usages and customs of war, as carried on by civilized powers, permit no 
distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public 
enemies. To sell or enslave any captured person, on account of his color 
and for no offence against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism, and 
a crime against the civilization of the age. 

The Government of the United States will give the same protection to 
all its soldiers; and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one because of 
his color, the offence shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy's 
prisoners in our possession. 

It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States-killed 
in violation of tbe laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed ; and for 
every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall 
he placed at hard labor on the public works, and continued at such labor 
until the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a pris- 
oner of war. Abkaijam Lincoln. 

But whether from the President' s tenderness of heart, 
which made it very hard for him to order the execution 
of a rebel soldier who had himself done no special wrong, 
even in retaliation for such barbarities as this at Fort Pil- 
low, or from some other cause, the first part of this order 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 521 

was never executed. The latter part of it was once carried 
into effect with excellent results by General Butler during 
the siege of Petersburg. Having learned that some of our 
colored troops, who had been taken prisoners, were not 
treated as prisoners of war, but were made to work by the 
rebels on their fortifications, he at once took a number of 
rebel officers and set them at work upon the canal, which 
he was digging at Dutch Gap, where they were constantly 
exposed to the heavy fire which the rebels kept up to 
check the progress of the work. This treatment proved 
speedily effectual. Our colored soldiers were relieved 
from their work on the fortifications, and the rebel officers 
were withdrawn from their exposed position and their 
weary labors. 

Another similar action led to a similar result. The 
rebels at Charleston, desirous of checking the fire of the 
1 ' swamp angel ' ' and other guns, which were making the 
city uninhabitable, placed some of our officers within 
reach of the shells, and notified our forces that they had 
done so. On our part a number of rebel officers of equal 
rank were immediately taken thither and also placed un- 
der fire. The only result was the exchange of the officers, 
and the rebels did not undertake again to defend them- 
selves in that way. 

Fort Pillow was not the only case of such atrocities on 
the part of the rebels. A somewhat similar affair took place 
on the 20th of April in North Carolina, on the capture of 
Plymouth on the Roanoke Kiver, where a company of loyal 
North Carolinians and some negro troops were also mur- 
dered in cold blood after the surrender. The capture was 
mainly effected by the success of a rebel iron-clad, the Albe- 
marle, which was able to destroy some of our gunboats, 
and drive others down the river, the commander of the 
Miami., Lieutenant Flusser, being killed by the rebound of 
a shell, which he had himself fired against the iron sides 
of the rebel vessel. Our fleet being driven down the 
river, communication with our garrison in Plymouth was 
cut off, and the place, being attacked by a heavy rebel 
force, was surrendered, after a gallant defence for four days, 



522 The Life, Public Services, axd 



by its commander, General Wessels, with its garrison of 
fifteen hundred men and twenty-five guns. The effect of 
this success was to render the withdrawal of our troops 
from other places in North Carolina inevitable. The 
Albemarle had for a time complete control of the river, 
"but coming down into the Sound, she was attacked by 
three of our wooden gunboats, and in a gallant fight was 
so injured as to be compelled to betake herself up the 
river again to Plymouth, which she never left afterwards, 
being sunk at her moorings, on the night of the 27th of 
October following, by a torpedo-boat, commanded by 
Lieutenant Gushing. 

In these smaller affairs, the rebels had been able to gain 
some successes, owing to the policy adopted by General 
Grant, of concentrating our forces from all quarters to 
strengthen the two great armies whose movements were 
to grind the Confederacy to powder. 

General Grant, having been appointed to the command 
of the armies of the United States, went to Nashville, 
where he issued an order announcing his assumption of 
the command. After making what arrangements were 
necessary with reference to the Western army, which he 
left under the command of General Sherman, he came 
eastward, to conduct in person the campaign against 
General Lee. The preparations for the coming cam- 
paign took time, and it was not till the third day of May 
that all things were ready for the forward movement. 
The Army of the Potomac remained under the special 
command of General Meade, and lay about Culpepper 
Court-House. General Burnside had been collecting a 
strong force, in good part colored troops, at Annapolis. 
Another strong force was under the command of Gen- 
eral Butler and General Smith, at "Yorktown, and yet an- 
other, not so strong, under General Sigel, at Winchester. 
Burnside' s troops were put in motion, and passed through 
Washington on the 23d of April to a position whence 
they could follow the Army of the Potomac at a short 
distance — and all things were thus now ready for 
the great advance. At this time the following cor- 



State Papers of Abraham Lixcoln. 523 

respondence passed "between the President and General 
Grant : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, April SO, IS 64 

Lieut. -General Grant: 

Not expecting to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to 
express in this way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to 
this time, so far as I understand it. 

The particulars of your plans I neither know nor seek to know. You 
are vigilant and self-reliant ; and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude 
any restraints or constraints upon you. While I am very anxious that 
any great disaster or capture of our men in great number shall be avoided, 
I know that these points are less likely to escape your attention than they 
would be mine. If there be any thing wanting which is within my power 
to give, do not fail to let me know it. 

And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain you. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

GRANT'S REPLY. 

Head-Qitaeteks Armies op the TTNiTrr States, ) 
CoLPErPEis Couet-House, May 1, 1S64 ) 

The President: 

Your very kind letter of yesterday is just received. The confidence 
you express for the future and satisfaction for the past, in my military 
administration, is acknowledged with pride. It shall be my earnest 
endeavor that you and the country shall not be disappointed. From my 
first entrance into the volunteer service of the country to the present day, 
I have never had cause of complaint; have never expressed or implied a 
complaint against the Administration, or the Secretary of War, for throw- 
ing any embarrassment in the way of my vigorously prosecuting what 
appeared to be my duty. 

Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in command of all the 
armies, and in view of the great responsibility and importance of success, 
I have been astonished at the readiness with which every thing asked for 
has been yielded, without even an explanation being asked. Should my 
success be less than I deserve and expect, the least I can say is, the fault 
is not with you. 

Very truly, your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, j^ieut.- General. 

The interest and anxiety with which the people watched 
for the approaching movement of the army was very deep. 
Nor did it content itself with mere watchfulness. It took 
the right direction of work, and from every quarter the 



524 The Life, Public Services, and 

hands of the Government were stayed tip "by the willing 
hearts of the people. 

As one instance of the desire to help, which was uni- 
versal^ felt, we may mention the offer of Colonel F. B. 
Loomis, of New London, to garrison Fort Trumbull with 
citizen soldiers for one hundred days, at his own expense, 
thus releasing the veterans, by whom it was garrisoned, to 
go to the front. 

The President replied to this offer as follows :— 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, May 12, ISO! 

My Dear Sin: 

•I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of 
the 28th April, in which you oiler to replace the present garrison at Fort 
Trumbull with volunteers, which you propose to raise at your own ex 
pense. While it seems inexpedient at this time to accept this proposition, 
on account of the special duties now devolving upon the garrison men- 
tioned, I cannot pass unnoticed such a meritorious instance of individual 
patriotism. Permit me, for the Government, to express my cordial thanks 
to you for this generous and public-spirited offer, which is worthy of nute 
among the many called forth in these times of national trial. 
I am, very truly, your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln. 
F. B. Loomis, Esq. 

It was on Monday, the 2d of May, that the forward 
march of the army began, and the Rapidan was crossed 
Without opposition on Tuesday and Wednesday, by the 
fords lying to the east of Lee's position. General Grant, 
recognizing the fact that the strength of the rebellion lay 
not in the fortifications of Richmond, but in the ranks of 
Lee's army, aimed to place himself upon the southern 
communications of that army, and by heavy blows to 
destroy it. And with the very commencement of this 
movement he forced Lee to leave the intrenched line be- 
hind which he had so long faced the gathering storm, and 
make haste to attack his foe before he had reached his 
rear. This he at once did, and on Thursday the battles 
of the Wilderness began. The character of the ground 
gave every advantage to the rebels. It was all overgrown 
vrith scrub pines, with but few roads leading through it 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 525 

They knew the ground thoroughly, and their movements 
could "be made unseen, while the dense woods made cav- 
alry and artillery almost useless. Lee's first effort was to 
break through our lines between our centre under War- 
ren and our left under Hancock, but by great exertions 
this was prevented, and night came without any sub- 
stantial result. With the morning of Friday, General 
Grant assumed the offensive, and the tide of battle ebbed 
and flowed throughout the day. On our left, Hancock's 
successes in the morning were lost again by noon, but a 
heavy attack of the rebels upon him in the afternoon was 
successfully repulsed. On our right no material advan- 
tage of position was gained during the day ; but the death 
of General Wadsworth, who fell at the head of his men, 
was a heavy loss to us, and by a furious assault, just 
before night, the rebels succeeded in breaking our lines, 
capturing General Thomas Seymour, and many of his 
men. The lines were, however, speedily re-established. 
The result was on the whole favorable to General Grant, 
as the rebels had failed to thoroughly break his lines or 
disable him for the forward movement which, on Satur- 
day night, after a day of skirmishing without any general 
engagement, he undertook, aiming at Spottsylvania Court- 
House. The rebels, however, becoming aware of his 
movement, moved likewise, and, having the shorter line, 
gained the position first, and held it against our attack 
during the hours of Sunday, our lines being formed about 
two miles and a half north of Spottsylvania, Monday was 
a day of skirmishing, sadly marked for us, however, by 
the death of General Sedgwick, who was in command of 
the Sixth Corps. Night found the two armies facing each 
other, each behind temporary breastworks, each watchful, 
each determined. 

The news of the movement of the army was not made 
public until Friday morning. The vital importance of 
its results was everywhere felt. All eyes were at once 
intent upon those bloody fields, all ears eager for informa- 
tion of what was going on there ; and the prayers of the 
whole people of the North went up to God, earnest, fer- 



526 The Life, Public Services, and 



vent, full of faith, that He would "bless the righteous 
cause. 

Official bulletins were given to the public of the results 
of the different days' operations as they slowly became 
known. And on Tuesday morning all hearts were thrilled 
with joy by the following official announcement from the 
President : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, May 9, 1S64. 

To the Friends of Union and Liberty : 

Enough is known of army operations, within the last five (lays, to 
claim our special gratitude to God. While what remains undone de- 
mands our most sii °,ere prayers to and reliance upon Him (without whom 
all effort is vain), 1 recommend that all patriots at their homes, in their 
places of public worship, and wherever they may be, unite in common 
thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Accompanying this recommendation were published 
bulletins of the results up to Saturday, the retiring of 
the rebels from General Grant's front, and the march of 
our army towards Spottsylvania. The news spread great 
joy everywhere, and that night a crowd of several thou- 
sand people marched to the White House to serenade the 
President, who, being called for, came out and spoke as 
follows : — 

Fellow-Citizens : — I am very much obliged to you for the compliment 
of this call, though I apprehend it is owing mure to the good news 
received to-day from the army, than to a desire to see me. I am indeed 
very grateful to the brave men who have been struggling with the enemy 
in the field, to their noble commanders who have directed them, and 
especially to our Maker. Our commanders are following up their victo- 
ries resolutely and successfully. I think, without knowing the particu- 
lars of the plans of General Grant, that what has been accomplished is 
of more importance than at first appears. 1 believe, I know (and am 
especially grateful to know) that General Grant has not been jostled in 
his purposes, that he has made all his points, and to-day he is on his lino 
as he purposed before he moved his armies. I will volunteer to say that 
I am very glad at what has happened, but there is a great deal still to be 
done. While we are grateful to all the brave men and officers for tho 
events of the past few days, we should, above all, be very grateful to 
Almighty God, who gives us victory. 

There is enough yet before us requiring all loyal men and patriots to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 527 

perform their share of the labor and follow the example of the modest 
General at the head of our armies, and sink all personal consideration 
for the sake of the country. I commend you to keep yourselves in the 
same tranquil mood that is characteristic of that brave and loyal man. 
I have said more than I expected when I came before you. Repeating my 
thanks for this call, I bid you good-by. 

While the movement of the Army of the Potomac 
was the chief point of interest, it was not the only 
one. On Wednesday, May 4th, General Butler having 
put his troops on board a fleet of transports, made a rapid 
move up the James River and occupied City Point and 
Bermuda Hundred, on "both sides of the Appomattox 
River, across which pontoons were thrown — while Gen- 
eral Kautz, at the head of a strong force of cavalry, left 
Suffolk upon a raid on the Petersburg and Weldon Rail- 
road — which he succeeded in cutting by destrojdng some 
bridges. General Butler also succeeded in cutting the 
railroad between Petersburg and Richmond, so as to pre- 
vent for a time the sending of re-enforcements to General 
Lee from the forces that were south of Richmond under 
Beauregard. 

General Grant, meantime, had not been content with 
merely pounding against Lee' s front with men and with 
guns, of which he was now able to employ more than in 
the battles of the Wilderness. He also dispatched his cav- 
alry under General Sheridan round the right flank of the 
rebels, on the 10th of May, which, reaching the railroads, 
made an immense destruction of supplies prepared for 
Lee's army, and of locomotives and cars for their trans- 
portation, and which, on the 11th, routed the rebel cav- 
alry under General Stuart, at Yellow Tavern, in which 
engagement Stuart was killed ; and, pressing on yet nearer 
Richmond and over the first line of the works around the 
city, .turned off to the east, and crossing the Chickahom- 
iny, readied Fortress Monroe with little loss, having in- 
flicted great damage on the enemy. 

The 10th and 11th of May were days of hard fighting 
for the Army of the Potomac, of heavy losses and par- 
tial successes for both sides, and of attacks met and re- 



528 The Life, Public Services, and 

pulsed, with the employment of all the resources of "both 
armies ; and the dispatches which General Grant sent to 
Washington on the night of the 11th summed up the 
results as follows : — 

We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result 
to this time is much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy, as well 
as those of the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. 
We have taken over five thousand prisoners in battle, while he has taken 
from us but few, except stragglers. I propose to fight it out on this line, 
if it takes all summer. 

The early light of the next morning "brought results 
yet more in our favor ; for with the "break of day, Han- 
cock, now on our right, fell like a thunderbolt upon the 
rebel intrenchments, and stormed over them, capturing 
several thousand prisoners, including two generals, to- 
gether with thirty or forty cannon, only eighteen of which, 
however, he was able to hold. For Lee, stung to the 
quick by this deadly blow, gathered all his forces to re- 
take the position, and five desperate charges upon it du- 
ring the day covered the ground with dead and wounded, 
until, when the battle was over, nearly a thousand rebel 
dead lay within an acre or two of ground in front of the 
works. The utmost exertions of the rebels were in vain, 
however, and they sullenly withdrew to another posi- 
tion. A storm now set in and enforced quiet on both 
armies for several days. During this time General But- 
ler moved forward towards Fort Darling, but on the 16th 
day of May he met with a heavy blow from the rebels, 
who took advantage of a fog to make a successful attack, 
driving him from the railroad and forcing him to return 
to his lines at Bermuda Hundred. General Sigel, too, who 
had marched down the Shenandoah Valley, was met by a 
superior force under General Imbden, and driven back 
with a loss of five guns. General Kautz, however, with 
his cavalry, having returned from his first successful raid, 
set out upon a second one towards the Danville road, 
which he also succeeded in injuring to some extent. 

The Government strained every nerve to send forward 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 529 

re-enforcements to General Grant, and on the IStli the 
fighting in front of Spottsylvania was renewed. On the 
19th the rebels inflicted a heavy loss upon our right by 
making an unexpected attack, in which some of our newly 
arrived regiments suffered severely. This was an attempt 
of the rebels to cut our communications, but they failed 
entirely in doing so. 

They had, however, by this time throAvn up intrench- 
raents of so formidable a character that General Grant 
determined again to make a flanking movement by the 
left. 

The movement was at once perceived by General Lee, 
and when our forces arrived at the North Anna river, the 
rebels were already there. They were not, however, 
able to prevent our forces from crossing the river, and 
inflicting a severe blow upon the enemy in the crossing. 
After crossing, however, the main body of Lee's army 
was discovered to have taken so strong a position be- 
tween the North and South Anna rivers, that General 
Grant again deemed it wise not to make a direct attack, 
but to repeat his flanking movement. 

The army was accordingly withdrawn without loss 
from Lee' s front on the night of Thursday, May 26th, and, 
moving again by the left, crossed the Pamunkey, but 
was again confronted by the rebel army, which, after 
some severe fighting, again made a stand at Coal Harbor. 
While here, one corps of General Butler's army, under 
General Smith, was transferred to the Army of the Poto- 
mac. Thus re-enforced, a violent but unsuccessful attack 
was made upon the rebel intrenchments on the 3d of 
June, and, after heavy losses, the attack was abandoned. 
Repeated efforts, however, on the part of the rebels, to 
turn our left, and to break up the communication which 
had been formed with the White House, on the Pamun- 
key river, also failed as signally. And both armies thus 
remained for several days, watching each other sleep- 
lessly, and each preferring to receive rather than to make 
an attack. 

Other co-operative movements went on during all this 



530 The Life, Public Services, and 

time. In "Western Virginia, General Averill had made 
quite a successful raid upon the railroads. In the Shen- 
andoah Valley, where General Hunter had taken com- 
mand in place of General Sigel, our forces won a brilliant 
victory at Piedmont over the rebels under Generals 
Jones and Imboden, the former of whom was killed. 
Hunter captured one thousand five hundred prisoners 
and three guns ; and, forming a junction with Crook and 
Averill, poshed on towards Lynchburg, which however 
he was unable to reach. An unsuccessful attack was 
made by General Butler's forces upon Petersburg on the 
10th of June. 

On the 12th of June, General Grant, having become 
convinced that nothing could be gained by a direct attack 
upon General Lee, followed up his plan of aiming to 
strike Lee's southern communications by leaving his 
front and again marching by the left to the James river, 
which he crossed upon a pontoon bridge below City 
Point, and immediately moved forward to the attack 
upon Petersburg. Again, however, General Lee, having 
the inside lines to move upon, was a few hours in advance 
of our troops, and, while several forts were taken on the 
outer lines of defences, with thirteen cannon and some 
prisoners, in which the colored troops especially distin- 
guished themselves, the inner lines were found to be too 
strong, and our army settled itself down to the siege of 
Petersburg. 

General Sherman's movement upon Atlanta was made at 
the same time as that of the Army of the Potomac. His army 
was superior in numbers to that which was opposed to it, 
but the rocky heights which were held by General John- 
ston were so strong that General Sherman did not waste 
its strength by attacking them in front, but by a series of 
masterly Hank movements he compelled the rebel army 
to retreat successively from Buzzard's Roost, from Dal- 
ton, and from Resaca, at which latter place there were, 
however, two days of heavy fighting on the 14th and 
loth of May, resulting in the capture of both guns and 
prisoners by our troops, the retreat of Johnston across 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 531 

the Oos+enaula river, and the capture without serious 
opposition of Rome and Kingston, some sixty miles fur- 
ther on towards Atlanta. At Rome, large quantities of 
provisions were captured, and large machine-shops were 
destroyed. Johnston's retreat had been too rapid to 
allow of his doing much damage to the railroad along 
which his army was falling hack towards Atlanta ; and 
whatever damage he was enabled to do was at once 
repaired, and the railroad was put in use to supply our 
armies in their advance. 

The Altoona Mountains were the scene of the next 
stand made by the rebels. General Sherman continued 
the flanking system, and moved towards Dallas, where, 
however, he was met by the rebels, who attacked Mc- 
Pherson' s Corps on the 28th of May, and met a disastrous 
repulse, losing some two thousand live hundred killed 
and wounded and eight hundred prisoners This move- 
ment having drawn the rebels from their position at the 
pass of the Altoona Mountains, it was occupied and held by 
our cavalry, becoming at once, as General Sherman said, 
"as useful to us as it was to the enemy," and the rebels 
took up a new position at Kenesaw and Lost Mountain. 
Efforts were made by them, while Sherman was advanc- 
ing towards this position, to interfere with his communi- 
cations, and some damage was done to the railroad by 
rebel cavalry, which was, however, speedily driven off. 
A mo#e discouraging affair, however, was the defeat of a 
heavy expedition, which set oat from Memphis under 
command of General Sturges, by the rebel General For- 
rest, on the 10th of June. The requirements of General 
Sherman's position were not, however, so great but that 
he was able at once to make arrangements to repair this 
disaster. Like General Grant, he was not "jostled from 
his plans" by these outside manoeuvres any more than 
by the direct blows of the rebel army, and by the 18th 
of June, when Grant stationed himself before the works 
of Petersburg after his march of a hundred miles and 
his many battles, Sherman had arrived before the rebel 
works at Kenesaw Mountain after a similar march of 



532 The Life, Public Services, and 

fighting and flanking the enemy over something more 
than a hundred miles of territory. 

Both of these movements are now recognized as having 
"been splendid successes. But it is not to be denied that 
from the time of the commencement of the siege of Peters- 
burg there was a growing feeling of doubt and anxiety in 
the country in reference to the operations of the army of 
the Potomac. It had been often announced that Lee's 
army was cut to pieces and fleeing in disorder, and yet 
that army had thus far, by repeated stands, been able to 
prevent Grant from breaking through its lines. Even 
Petersburg was declared to have been taken by assault 
on the first attack ; and yet it was found that, instead of 
this, our army was not able at once to draw its lines 
around the place far enough to cut off the Weldon Rail- 
road. The losses of the army were greatly exaggerated 
by the opposition, the difficulties of its position magnified, 
the lack of water and the dust and heat were dilated 
upon, and even the visit which the President paid to the 
army on the 22d of June was dwelt upon as an event 
showing that the difficulties of the situation were great, 
if not insuperable. 

The army, however, did not look at it in that light. 
The President's visit was for them a gratification, not a 
cause for anxiety, and they cheered him, as he rode along 
the lines, with a heartiness which expressed. their confi- 
dence in him and in the leaders whom he had given them. 
The President's confident expressions as to the state of 
affairs on his return went far to encourage the country ; 
for the people had already come in great measure to 
have that abounding confidence in Mr. Lincoln which 
displayed itself so wonderfully during the rest of his life. 
He appreciated in his turn the confidence which the 
people felt in him. " I do my best to deserve this," said 
he to a friend, " but I tremble at the responsibility that 
devolves upon me, a weak, mortal man, to serve such a 
great and generous people in such a place as I hold, in 
such an awful crisis as this. It is a terrible responsibility ; 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 533 

"but it has been imposed upon me without my seeking, 
and I trust Providence has a wise purpose for me to 
fulfil by appointing me to this charge, which is almost 
too much for a weak mortal to hold." 

He appreciated not only this confidence in him, but the 
whole character of the people. "Such a people," said 
he, "can never fail ; and they deserve, and will receive, 
the proudest place in the history of nations." It seems 
sad to think that he could not have lived to see how 
speedily the fulfilment of his prophecy approached. 

General Grant's purpose was to extend his lines south- 
ward, cutting off as speedily as possible the railroads 
which led from Petersburg to the south ; and Irv the 
cavalry arm destroying the other railroads leading to 
Richmond, thus isolating it from the South. In pursu- 
ance of this plan Sheridan with his cavalry destroyed a 
large portion of the railroads between Richmond and 
Gordonsville, returning to the White House, and there 
opening communications again with General Grant ; and 
Wilson, on the south, cut the Weldon Railroad, and, 
reaching Burkesville, did serious damage also to the 
Danville road. The first move of the army, however, 
towards the Weldon road resulted disastrously ; and 
Wilson, on his return from his raid, was set upon at 
Ream's Station, and had to cut his way through with 
heavy loss, by the aid of a diversion effected by the 
Sixth Corps, which was sent to his relief. General Hun- 
ter, too, was unable to capture Lynchburg, and, fall- 
ing short of ammunition, was compelled to retreat into 
Western Virginia by the Valley of the Kanawha. 

Amid these various movements, Congress adjourned on 
the 4th of July. 

The feeling at its adjournment was not buoyant, but 
tending to depression ; and, just before it separated, a 
resolution was passed, requesting the President to ap- 
point a day of fasting and prayer. Accordingly, on the 
7th of July, he issued the following proclamation : — 



534 The Life, Public Services, and 

proclamation. 

By the President of the United States. 

"Whereas, the Senate and House of Representatives at their last session 
adopted a concurrent resolution, which was approved on the second day 
of July instant, and which was in the words following, namely: 

That the President of the United States be requested to appoint a day 
of humiliation and prayer by the people of the United Slates, that he re- 
quest his constitutional advisers at the head of the Executive Departments 
to unite with him, as Chief Magistrate of the nation, at the City of Wash- 
ington, and the members of Congress, and all magistrates, all civil, mili- 
tary, and naval officers, all soldiers, sailors, and marines, with all loyal 
mid law-abiding people, to convene at their usual places of worship, or 
wherever they may be, to confess and to repent of their manifold sins, to 
implore the compassion and forgiveness of the Almighty, that if consistent 
with LTis will, the existing rebellion may be speedily suppressed, and the 
supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the United States may he 
established throughout all the States; to implore Him, as the Supremo 
Ruler of the world, not to destroy us as a people, nor suffer us to be de- 
stroyed by the hostility or connivance of other nations, or by obstinate 
adhesion to our own counsels which may be in conflict with His eternal 
purposes, and to implore Him to enlighten the mind of the nation to know 
and do His will, humbly believing that it is in accordance with His will 
that our place should be maintained as a united people among the family 
of nations ; to implore Him to grant to our armed defenders, and the 
masses of the people, that courage, power of resistance, and endurance 
necessary to secure that result; to implore Him in His infinite goodness 
to soften the hearts, enlighten the minds, and quicken the conscience of 
those in rebellion, that they may lay down their arms, and speedily return 
to their allegiance to the United States, that they may not be utterly de 
stroyed, that the effusion of blood may be stayed, and that unity and fra- 
ternity may be restored, and peace established throughout all our borders. 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
cordially concurring with the Congress of the United States, in the peni- 
tential and pious sentiments expressed in the aforesaid resolutions, and 
heartily approving of the devotional design and purpose thereof, do here- 
by appoint the first Thursday of August next to be observed by the peo- 
ple of the United States as a day of national humiliation and prayer. 

I do hereby further invite and request the heads of the Executive De- 
partments of this Government, together with all legislators, all judges 
and magistrates, and all other persons exercising authority in the land, 
whether civil, military, or naval, and all soldiers, seamen, and marines in 
the national service, and all the other loyal and law-abiding people of the 
United States, to assemble in their preferred places of public worship on 
that day, and there to render to the Almighty and merciful Ruler of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 55b' 

Universe, such homage and such confessions, and to offer to ITim such 
supplications as the Congress of the United States have, in their aforesaid 
resolution, so solemnly, so earnestly, and so reverently recommended. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington this seventh day of July, in the year of 
r i our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of tho 

independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. 
By the President : Abraham Liscouf. 

"William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

The depressing effect of the apparent check in the on- 
ward movement of the work of suppressing the rebellion 
was, however, mnch alleviated "by the news which ar- 
rived on the Oth of July, of the sinking of the rebel 
cruiser Alabama, on the 19th of June, off Cherbourg, by 
the Kearsarge, under the command of Captain Winslow. 
Opportunities for our navy to distinguish itself in battle, 
except with forts, had been rare, and great rejoicing was 
felt that Semmes, the commander of the Alabama, had at 
last given to the Kearsarge an opportunity to prove, in 
sight of France and England, that Yankee ships and guns 
and men were, as of old, dangerous enemies in an encounter. 

The Shenandoah Valley had been laid open by Hun- 
ter's movement into West Virginia, and the rebels took 
advantage of it to make a push northward. They crossed 
the Potomac in considerable force, commanded by Gen- 
eral Early, and on the 9th of July defeated our troops 
under General Wallace, at Monocacy. The President 
called for twelve thousand militia from each of the States 
of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, to meet this 
invasion, from which both Baltimore and Washington 
were felt to be in some danger. A bold company of raiders 
even burned the house of Governor Bradford, only four 
miles from Baltimore, and, passing north of Baltimore, cut 
the Philadelphia and Baltimore* Railroad, capturing two 
trains of cars. One of the passengers on the cars was 
Major-General Franklin, who was taken prisoner, but 
afterwards succeeded in making his escape near Reisters- 
towm The raiders met little opposition through the coun- 



536 The Life, Public Services, and 

lay, one striking exception being the conduct of old 
Ishmael Day, a man of eighty-three years, who, when a 
couple of rebels undertook to pull down a flag which was 
flying over his gate, shot one of them and forced the other 
to retreat. A larger company of them, however, came 
and burned the old man's house, but did not succeed in 
rinding him. Extensive preparations were made at Bal- 
timore to resist an attack, and the general loyalty of the 
city was in marked contrast with its attitude at the outset 
of the rebellion. The militia gathered fast from the loyal 
States. General Grant had also sent up the Sixth Corps 
of the Army of the Potomac to aid in the defence of 
Washington. The Nineteenth Corps, which had just ar- 
rived from New Orleans, was also sent thither ; and on the 
13th of July, the rebel forces, which had for the two days 
previous skirmished smartly in front of Fort Stevens, near 
"Washington, determined to retreat ; and by the end of that 
week they were all south of tile Potomac, having carried off 
great quantities of plunder and spread great consternation 
through Maryland and the lower part of Pennsylvania, 
but not having succeeded at all in compelling General 
Grant to loosen his hold upon Petersburg. 

Nor was this the only raid which the rebels undertook. 
In Kentucky they had made great disturbances under 
John Morgan, which, though checked by his rout by Gen- 
eral Burbridge, at Cynthiana, continued, and were receiv- 
ing so much countenance from rebel sympathizers in the 
State, that the President deemed it wise to declare martial 
law throughout the State, which was done by the follow 
ing proclamation : — 

By the President of the United States of America. 
PROCLAMATION. 

■Washington, Tuesday, July 5. 

Whereas, by a proclamation which was issued on the 15th day of April, 
1861, the President of the United States announced and declared that the 
laws of the United States had been for some time past, and then were op- 
posed, and tbe execution .thereof obstructed in certain States therein men- 
tioned, by combinations too powerful to he suppressed by the ordinary 
course of judicial proceedings or by the power vested in the marshals by 
law : and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 537 

Whereas, immediately after the issuing of the said proclamation the 
land and naval forces of the United States were put into activity to sup- 
press the said insurrections and rebellion ; and 

Whereas, the Congress of the United States, by an act approved on the 
third day of March, 1863, did enact that during the said rebellion the 
President of the United States, whenever in his judgment the public 
safety may require it, is authorized to suspend the privilege of the writ 
of habeas corpus in any case throughout the United States, or any part 
thereof; and 

Whereas, the said insurrection and rebellion still continue, endangering 
the existence of the Constitution and Government of the United States ; and 

Whereas, the military forces of the United States are now actively en- 
gaged in suppressing the said insurrection and rebellion in various parts 
of the States where the said rebellion has been successful in obstructing 
the laws and puhlic authorities, especially in the States of Virginia and 
Georgia ; and 

Whereas, on the fifteenth day of September last, the President of the 
United States duly issued his proclamation, wherein lie declared that the 
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus should be suspended throughout 
the United States, in cases where by the authority of the President of the 
United States, the military, naval, and civil officers of the United States, 
or any of them, hold persons under their command or in their custody, 
either as prisoners of war, spies, or aiders or abettors of the enemy, or 
officers, soldiers, or seamen enrolled or drafted, or mustered, or enlisted in, 
or belonging to the land or naval forces of the United States, or as desert- 
ers therefrom, or otherwise amenahle to military law, or the rules and 
articles of Avar, or the rules and regulations prescribed for the military 
and naval service by authority of the President of the United States, or 
for resisting a draft, or for any other offence against the military or naval 
service ; and 

Whereas, many citizens of the State of Kentucky have joined the forces 
of the insurgents, who have on several occasions entered the said State of 
Kentucky in large force and not without aid and comfort furnished by disaf- 
fected and disloyal citizens of the United States residing therein, have 
not only greatly disturbed the public peace but have overborne the civil 
authorities and made flagrant civil war, destroying property and life in 
various parts of the State ; and 

Whereas, it has been made known to the President of the United States, 
by the officers commanding the National armies, that combinations have 
been formed in the said State of Kentucky, with a purpose of inciting tho 
rebel forces to renew the said operations of civil war within the said State, 
and thereby to embarrass the United States armies now operating in the 
Baid States of Virginia and Georgia, and even to endanger their safety. 

Kow, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by 
virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws, do 
hereby declare that in my judgment the public safety especially requires 



538 The Life, Public Services, and 

that the suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus so pro- 
claimed in the said proclamation of the 15th of September, 1863, be made 
effectual and be duly enforced in and throughout the said State of Ken- 
tucky, and that martial law be for the present declared therein. I do 
therefore hereby require of the military officers in the said State that the 
privilege of the habeas corpus be effectually suspended within the said 
State, according to the aforesaid proclamation, and that martial law be 
established therein to take effect from the date of this proclamation, the 
said suspension and establishment of martial law to continue until this 
proclamation shall be revoked or modified, but not beyond the period 
when the said rebellion shall have been suppressed or come to an end. 
And I do hereby require and command, as well as military officers, all 
civil officers and authorities existing or found within the said State of Ken- 
tucky, to take notice of this proclamation and to give full effect to the 
same. The martial laws herein proclaimed and the things in that respect 
herein ordered will not be deemed or taken to interfere with the holding 
of lawful elections, or with the proceedings of the constitutional Legisla- 
ture of Kentucky, or with the administration of justice in the courts of 
law existing therein between citizens of the United States in suits or pro- 
ceedings which do not affect the military operations or the constituted 
authorities of the Government of the United States. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington this 5th day of July, in the year 
[l. 6.] of our Lord 1864, and of the independence of the United States 
the eighty-eighth. Abeauam Lincoln. 

By the President : 

"William II. Sewaed, Secretary of Slate. 

While the loyal States were tlius engaged in repelling 
rebel raids and strengthening the armies, General Sher- 
man continued his victorious campaign. His assault upon 
Kenesaw was a failure, because of the strength of the rebel 
works ; but a repetition of the flanking system drove 
Johnston out of them across the Chattahoochee, which 
our army crossed on the 11th of July. By a movement 
of his left .wing. General Sherman at once seized Decatur, 
onl} T six miles from Atlanta, and severed the railroad be- 
tween Atlanta and Augusta, by which time the dissatis- 
faction, which had been felt in rebeldom with Johnston s 
continued falling back, culminated in his removal on the 
7th of J illy, and the appointment of General Hood in his 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 539 

place. HoocJ. signalized his appointment "by attacking 
Sherman instead of remaining on the defensive, and was 
defeated "with heavy loss on the 20th of July, and again on 
the 22d, when our army, though victorious, met with a 
very' severe loss in the death of Major-General McPher- 
son, one of the choicest of the gallant leaders who had 
stood around Sherman through all that long, laborious, 
and "bloody march. A raid of our cavalry, under General 
Rousseau, had destroyed the railroad "between Atlanta 
and Montgomery, for thirty miles, with but little loss. 
Another, under General Stoneman, though partially suc- 
cessful in what it accomplished on the Macon road, was 
cut off on its return, and General Stoneman and most of 
Ms command were captured, on the 30th of July. Still, 
the month closed prosperously upon Sherman's opera- 
tions. Another rebel attack was bloodily repulsed on 
the 2Sth, and his lines were drawn closely around At- 
lanta, while the rebel strength had been more weakened 
by Hood's assaults than by Johnston's successive retreats. 
At the North the month did not close so favorably. 
The hundred-days men offered by the Northwestern States 
had come promptly forward and been assigned to the posts 
where they were needed. On the 11th of June the Presi- 
dent made the following brief speech to a regiment of them 
from Ohio, which passed through Washington : — 

Soldiers! I understand you have just come from Ohio; come to help 
us iu this the nation's day of trial, and also of its hopes. I thank \ou for 
your promptness in responding to the call for troops. Your services were 
uever needed more than now. I know not where you are going. You 
may stay here and take the places of those who will be sent to the front, 
or you may go there yourselves. Whereveii. you go I know you will do 
your best. Again I thank you. Good-by. 

But notwithstanding the aid which they furnished in 
order to make up the re-enforcements needed for Sher- 
man to keep up his line of communication, for Grant 
to make the necessary extension of his lines, and for 
the meeting of rebel raids in various parts of the coun- 
try, *he President had deemed it wise, on the 18th of 



540 The Life, Public Services, and 

July, to issue the following Proclamation, ordering a 
draft of five hundred thousand men : — 

PROCLAMATION. 
By the President of the United States of America. 

Washington, July 13, 1964. 

Whereas, By the act approved July 4, 1864, entitled an act farther to 
regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, 
and for other purposes, it is provided that the President of the United 
States may, at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number 
of men as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, and three 
years for military service; and that in case the quota, or any part thereof, 
of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or 
of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty 
days after such call, then the President shall immediately order a draft 
for one year, to fill such quota, or any part thereof which may be un- 
filled. 

And, whereas, the new enrolment heretofore ordered is so far com- 
pleted as that the afore-mentioned act of Congress may now be put in 
operation, for recruiting and keeping up the strength of the armies in 
the field, for garrisons, and such military operations as may be required 
for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion and restoring the authority 
of the United States Government in the insurgent States. 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
do issue this my call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the mili- 
tary service ; provided, nevertheless, that all credits which may be estab 
lished under section eight of the aforesaid act, on account of persons who 
have entered the naval service during the present rebellion, and by cred- 
its for men furnished to the military service in excess of calls heretofore 
made for volunteers, will bo accepted under this call for one, two, or 
three years, as they may elect, and will be entitled to the bounty pro- 
vided by law for the period of service for which they enlist. 

And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct, that after the fifth day of Sep- 
tem ber, 1864, being fifty days from the date of this call, a draft for troops to 
ser\e for one year, shall be held in every town, township, ward of a city, 
precinct, election district, ou county not so subdivided, to fill the quota 
which shall be assigned to it under this call, or any part thereof which 
may be unfilled by volunteers, on the said fifth day of September, 1S64. 

Done at Washington this 18th day of July, in the year of our Lord, 
1S64, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. 

In testimony wherof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
[l. s.] seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : 

Wm. II. Seward, Secretary oj State. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 541 

Towards the last of the month the rebels made another 
raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania, and on the 30th 
of July the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, was 
occupied by their cavalry under General McCausland. A 
written demand, signed by General Early, was presented 
for 61 00, 000 in gold, or $500,000 in currency, with a threat 
of burning the town if the demand was not complied 
with. As it was not complied with, they fulfilled their 
threat and laid the town in ashes, without giving the citi 
zens time to remove their property. 

The rebel forces remained north of the Potomac till 
about the 7th of August, but accomplished nothing else of 
importance. On that day several of our commands which 
had been acting against them somewhat independently 
of each other were consolidated into one, at the head of 
which was placed General Sheridan. The benefit of this 
change was speedily seen. The rebels fell back south 
of the Potomac, and were so pressed by Sheridan that 
General Lee deemed it advisable to re-enforce Early from 
his own lines, when Sheridan in his turn fell back, and 
for some weeks there was active manceuvring on both 
sides and several small battles were fought, in which we 
gained more than the rebels, who were never able to cross 
the Potomac in force again. 

Two days before the burning of Chambersburg, Gen- 
eral Grant had made a movement on the north side of the 
James River, across which, by means of pontoon bridges, 
he threw a force which was attacked before it had time 
to strengthen its position, but repulsed the rebels with a 
loss of four guns. This movement, though only a feint, 
was heavy enough to induce General Lee to throw a 
strong force to the north side also, when our men were 
in the night drawn back for an attack on the Peters- 
burg works, which was made on the 30th. The attack 
was begun in front of General Burnside' s lines, by the 
exj)losion of a mine under one of the rebel forts, destroy- 
ing it at once. Instantly every gun in our ranks 
opened upon Petersburg and its defences, and an assault 
was made upon the gap in the rebel lines caused by the 



>A2 The Life, Public Services, and 

explosion of the mine. The attack was successful in 
piercing the lines, "but not in carrying a height just within 
them, called Cemetery Hill, from which, if we had sue 
ceeded in carrying it, our guns would have commanded 
Petersburg and its defences. The rebels gathered here 
in force, and poured so heavy a fire upon our forces that 
the assault could not be maintained, and while part of 
our troops were driven back, a large number of them, 
who had entered the blown-up fort, were unable to re- 
turn and were compelled to surrender. Our loss in the 
whole aflair was between two and three thousand men. 
Charges were made that the colored troops, who formed 
a part of the assaulting column, had failed to do their 
duty ; but the evidence did not sustain this charge, but 
showed that the failure was due mainly to that lack of 
cordial co-operation among the generals in command, 
which has so often defeated the most skilful and promis- 
ing plans. 

It was supposed that this repulse would put an end to 
active operations in front of Petersburg for a long time ; 
but this was not giving due credit to Grant's unyielding 
pertinacity. An important position on the north side of 
the James was captured on the 15th of August, by a ruse, 
Hancock's Corps having been shipped on transports down 
the river, as if on their way to Washington, but returning 
under cover of night to join the Tenth Corps in taking and 
holding a position only ten miles from Richmond, capturing 
some live hundred prisoners and ten guns. This position 
was important to cover the work of our men in digging 
the Dutch Gap Canal, through which it was hoped our 
iron-clads might go up the river to flank the rebel defences. 

Not satisfied with this success, but taking advantage of 
the fact that Lee, encouraged by the ill success of our 
assault on the 30th of July, had sent a portion of his 
troops to re-enforce Early, General Grant, on the 17th, 
struck a blow at the other end of his lines, upon the TV el- 
don Railroad, which was seized by our forces. A furi- 
ous attack was made upon them by the rebels, which at 
one time met with a partial success, but our lines were 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 543 

re-established, and a subsequent attack was repulsed with 
heavy loss. Two rebel generals were killed and three 
wounded. Another and more determined assault was 
made on the 26th, but, after tremendous fighting, was also 
repulsed. Our loss was severe, but that of the rebels 
was far more so. The substantial prize of the struggle, 
the railroad, remained in our possession, and thus another 
of the sources of supply for the army of General Lee was 
cut off. 

Thus the month of August gave us a decided advan- 
tage in Virginia. In the South it gave us brilliant suc- 
cess. In the early part of the month the preparations 
were completed for an attack upon Mobile, by the fleet 
under Commodore Farragut, aided by a small land force 
under General Granger. The passage of the fleet into the 
bay past the rebel forts, and the destruction of the 
rebel fleet, were accomplished in about three hours, on 
the morning of the 5th of August. Our fleet consisted 
of fourteen gunboats and three monitors. The gunboats 
were lashed together, two by two, that one might help 
the other, and the monitors were on the starboard side of 
the fleet. The Brooklyn led the way, followed by the 
flagship Hartford and the rest. One of our monitors, 
the Tecumseli, commanded by the gallant Craven, was 
struck by a torpedo and sunk with all on board, except 
her pilot and eight or ten of her crew. This disaster 
momentarily checked the advance, when Farragut, in the 
flag-ship, rushed forward to the head of the fleet and led 
the way past the forts, followed by the rest of the gun- 
boats, each one as she went by pouring her broadsides 
into the rebel forts. Within the harbor the rebel iron- 
clad Tennessee made desperate battle. The rest of the 
rebel fleet, except one vessel, having been captured or 
destroyed, she was attacked by several of our vessels 
at once, who rammed her severely whenever they could 
get a chance at her, and, seeing the rest of the fleet and 
the monitors bearing down upon her, she surrendered. 
She was commanded by Buchanan, who commanded the 
Mcrrlmac in her famous battle with the Monitor. 



544 The Life, Public Services, and 

The conquest of the relbel fleet was followed by the 
immediate surrender of Forts Gaines and Powell. Fort 
Morgan still held out, but was immediately invested by 
General Granger. On the 22d an assault of the fort was 
commenced, and on the 23d, after a bombardment of 
twelve hours, in which about three thousand shells were 
thrown into it, this last of the rebel defences' of the har- 
bor of Mobile was surrendered unconditionally to our 
forces. 

TsTor was this the only success. General Sherman had 
been drawing his lines more closely around Atlanta, and 
Hood having made the mistake of sending off all his cav- 
alry upon a fruitless effort to destroy the communications 
between our army and Chattanooga, General Sherman 
took advantage of it to make a movement on the west of 
Atlanta towards the rear of Hood' s army. Leaving one 
corps to defend our intrenched lines in front of the city, 
he threw the rest of his army upon the railroad to Macon, 
near West Point, upon the 30th of August, and thus cut 
Hood's army in two and defeated one portion of it at 
Jonesboro. Hood, finding that he was in danger of being 
cut off, blew up his magazines in Atlanta on the night of 
the 1st of September and retreated to the southeast, and 
on the 2d the Twentieth Corps, which had been left in our 
intrenchments, marched into the city and took possession, 
and General Sherman sent the message to Washington— 
" Atlanta is ours and fairly Avon." 

Before receiving General Sherman's official report, the 
War Department had received news of the fall of Atlanta, 
and on the 2d, at eight p. m., Mr. Stanton telegraphed to 
General Dix, at New York, as follows :— 

This department has received intelligence this evening that General 
Sherman's advance entered Atlanta about noon to-day. The particulars 
have not yet been received, but telegraphic communication during the 
night with Atlanta direct is expected. 

It is ascertained with reasonable certainty that the naval and other 
credits required by the act of Congress will amount to about two hundred 
thousand, including New York, which has not yet been reported to thia 
department; so that the President's call of July 10 is practically reduced 
to three hundred thousand men, to meet and take the place of 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 545 

First — The new enlistments in the navy ; 

Second — The casualties of battle, sickness, prisoners, and desertion ; and 

Third — The hundred-days troops and all others going out by expira- 
tion of service this fall. 

One hundred thousand new troops promptly furnished are all that 
General Grant asks for the capture of Richmond and to give a finishing 
blow to the rebel armies yet in the field. The residue of the call would 
be adequate for garrisons in forts and to guard all the lines of communi- 
cation and supply, free the country from guerrillas, give security to trade, 
protect commerce and travel, and re-establish peace, order, and tranquillity 
in every State. Edwin M. Stanton, 

Secretary of War. 

This close of General Sherman's campaign was greeted 
with the greatest exultation by all the people, and they 
heartily responded to the recommendations of the Thanks- 
giving Proclamation, which the President at once issued, 
and joined heartily in the thanks which he gave in the 
name of the nation to officers and men, and rejoiced in the 
salutes of one hundred guns which he ordered to be fired 
everywhere. 

This proclamation and the orders issued were as fol- 
lows : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington City, September 3, 1S64. 

The signal success that Divine Providence has recently vouchsafed to 
the operations of the United States fleet and army in the harbor of Mo- 
bile, and the reduction of Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan, and 
the glorious achievements of the army under Major-General Sherman, in 
the State of Georgia, resulting in the capture of the city of Atlanta, cal 1 
for devout acknowledgment to the Supreme Being in whose hands aro 
the destinies of nations. It is therefore requested that on next Sunday, in 
all places of worship in the United States, thanksgivings be offered to Him 
for His mercy in preserving our national existence against the insurgent 
rebels who have been waging a cruel war against the Government of the 
United States for its overthrow, and also that prayer be made for Divine 
protection to our brave soldiers and their leaders in the field who have 
so often and so gallantly perilled their lives in battling with the enemy, 
and for blessings and comfort from the Father of mercies to the sick, 
wounded, and prisoners, and to the orphans and widows of those who 
have fallen in the service of their country, and that He will continue to 
uphold the Government of *the United States against all the efforts of 
public enemies and secret foes. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

35 



546 The Life, Public Services, axd 



Executive Mansion, September 3, 1S64. 

The national thanks are tendered hy the President to Admiral Farragut 
and Major-General Canhy, for the skill and harmony with which the recent 
operations in Mobile Harbor and against Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and 
Fort Morgan were planned and carried into execution. Also to Admiral 
Farragut and Major-General Granger, under whose immediate command 
they were conducted, and to the gallant commanders on sea and land, and 
to the sailors and soldiers engaged in the operations, for their energy and 
courage, which, under the blessing of Providence, have been crowned with 
brilliant success, and have won for them the applause and thanks of the 
nation. Abraham Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, September 8, 1S64. 
The national thanks are tendered hy the President to Major-General 
"William T. Sherman and the gallant officers and soldiers of his command 
before Atlanta, for the distinguished ability, courage, and perseverance 
displayed in the campaign in Georgia, which under Divine power resulted 
in the capture of the city of Atlanta. The marches, battles, sieges, and 
other military operations that have signalized this campaign must render 
it famous in the annals of war, and have entitled those who have partici- 
pated therein to the applause and thanks of the nation. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, September 3, 1SG4. 

Ordered. — First. — That on Monday, the 5th day of September, com- 
mencing at the hour of twelve o'clock noon, there shall be given a salute 
of one hundred guns at the arsenal and navy-yard at Washington, and on 
Tuesday, the 6th of September, or on the day after the receipt of this 
order, at each arsenal and navy-yard in the United States, for the recent 
brilliant achievements of the fleet and land forces of the United States in 
the harbor of Mobile, and the reduction of Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and 
Fort Morgan. The Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy will 
issue the necessary directions in their respective departments for the exe- 
cution of this order. 

Second. — That on Wednesday, the 7th day of September, commencing 

at the hour of twelve o'clock noon, there shall be fired a sahue of one 

hundred guns at the arsenal at Washington, and at New York, Boston, 

Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg, Newport, Ky., and at St. Louis, and 

at New Orleans, Mobile, Pensacola, Hilton Head, and Newbern. the day 

after the receipt of this order, for the brilliant- achievements of the army 

under command of Major-General Sherman, in the State of Georgia, and 

the capture of Atlanta. The Secretary of War will give directions for 

the execution of this order. 

Abraham Lincoln. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 547 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1864. 

The Presidential Election. — The Cleveland Convention. — The Con- 
vention at Baltimore. — Mr. Lincoln's Renomination and Accept- 
ance. — Popular Feeling During the Summer. — The Argueli.es 
Case. — The Forged Proclamation. — The Niagara Falls Conference. 
— TnE Chicago Convention. — Progress and Result of the Cam- 
paign. — Popular Jot at the Result. 

The American people were approaching another test of 
their capacity for self-government, in some respects more 
trying than any they had yet encountered. As the spring 
of 1S64 was passing away, the official term of President 
Lincoln drew towards its close, and the people were re- 
quired to choose his successor. At all times and under 
the most favorable circumstances, the election of a Pres- 
ident is attended with a degree of excitement, which some 
of the wisest theorists have pronounced inconsistent with 
the permanent harmony and safety of a republican form 
of government. But that such an election should become 
necessary in the midst of a civil war, which wrapped the 
whole country in its flames and aroused such intense and 
deadly passions in the public heart, was felt to be fore- 
most among the calamities which had menaced the land. 
The two great rebel armies still held the field. The 
power of their government was still unbroken. All our 
attempts to capture their capital had proved abortive. 
The public debt was steadily and rapidly increasing. 
Under the resistless pressure of military necessity, the Gov- 
ernment, availing itself of the permissions of the Consti- 
tution, had suspended the great safeguard of civil freedom, 
and dealt with individuals whom it deemed dangerous 
to the public safety with as absolute and relentless 
severity as the most absolute monarchies of Europe bad 
ever shown. Taxes were increasing ; new drafts of men 



548 The Life, Public Services, and 

to fill the ranks of new armies were impending ; the Demo- 
cratic party, from the very beginning hostile to the war 
and largely imbued with devotion to the principle of 
State Sovereignty on which the rebellion rested, and 
with toleration for slavery out of which it grew, was 
watching eagerly for every means of arousing popular 
hatred against the Government, that they might secure its 
transfer to their own hands ; and the losses, the agonies, 
the desolations of the war were beginning, apparently, to 
make themselves felt injuriously upon the spirit, the en- 
durance, the hopeful resolution of the people throughout 
the loyal States. 

Thai under these circumstances and amidst these ele- 
ments of popular discontent and hostile passion, the 
nation should be compelled to plunge into the whirlpool 
of a political contest, was felt to be one of the terrible 
necessities which might involve the nation 1 s ruin. That 
the nation went through it, with a majestic calmness up 
to that time unknown, and came out from it stronger, 
more resolute, and more thoroughly united than ever be- 
fore, is among the marvels which confound all theory, and 
demonstrate to the world the capacity of an intelligent 
people to provide for every conceivable emergency in the 
conduct of their own affairs. 

Preparations for the nomination of candidates had be 
gun to be made, as usual, early in the spring of 18G4. 
Some who saw most clearly the necessities of the future, 
had for some months before expressed themselves strongly 
in favor of the renomination of President Lincoln. But 
this step was contested with great warmth and activity 
by prominent members of the political party by which 
he had been nominated and elected four years before. 
Nearly all the original Abolitionists and many of the more 
decidedly anti-slavery members of the Republican party 
were dissatisfied, that Mr. Lincoln had not more rapidly 
and more sweepingly enforced their extreme opinions. 
Many distinguished public men resented his rejection of 
their advice, and many more had been alienated by his 
inability to recognize their claims to office. The most 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 549 

violent opposition came from those who had been most 
persistent and most clamorous in their exactions. And as 
it was unavoidable that, in wielding so terrible and so 
absolute a power in so terrible a crisis, vast multitudes 
of active and ambitious men should be disappointed in 
their expectations of position and personal gain, the 
renomination of Mr. Lincoln was sure to be contested by 
a powerful and organized effort. 

At the very outset this movement acquired consistency 
and strength by bringing forward the Hon. S. P. Chase, 
Secretary of the Treasury, a man of great political bold- 
ness and experience, and who had prepared the way for 
such a step by a careful dispensation of the vast patron- 
age of his department, as the rival candidate. But it was 
instinctively felt that this effort lacked the sympathy and 
support of the great mass of the people, and it ended in 
the withdrawal of his name as a candidate by Mr. Chase 
himself. 

The National Committee of the Union Republican party 
had called their convention, to be held at Baltimore, on 
the 8th of June. This step had been taken from a con- 
viction of the wisdom of terminating as speedily as 
possible all controversy concerning candidates in the 
ranks of Union men ; and it was denounced with the 
greatest vehemence by those who opposed Mr. Lincoln's 
nomination, and desired more time to infuse their hostility 
into the public mind. Failing to secure a postponement 
of the convention, they next sought to overawe and dic- 
tate its action by a display of power, and the following 
call was accordingly issued about the 1st of May, for a 
convention to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 31st day 
of that month : — 

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
After having labored ineffectually to defer, as far as was in our power, 
the critical moment when the attention of the people must inevitably be 
fixed upon, the selection of a candidate for the chief magistracy of the 
country; after having interrogated our conscience and consulted our duty 
as citizens, obeying at once the sentiment of a mature conviction and a 
profound affection for the common country, we feel ourselves impelled, 



550 The Life, Public Services, ani 

on our own responsibility, to declare to the people that the time has 
come for all independent men, jealous of their liberties and of the national 
greatness, to confer together, and unite to resist the swelling invasion of 
an open, shameless, and unrestrained patronage, which threatens to in- 
gulf under its destructive wave the rights of the people, the liberty and 
dignity of the nation. 

Deeply impressed with the conviction that, in a time of revolution, 
when the public attention is turned exclusively to the success of armies, 
and is conseqnently less vigilant of the public liberties, the patronage 
derived from the organization of an army of a million of men, and an 
administration of affairs which seeks to control the remotest parts of the 
country in favor of its supreme chief, constitute a danger seriously 
threatening the stability of republican institutions, we declare that the 
principle of one term, which has now acquired nearly the force of law 
by the consecration of time, ought to be inflexibly adhered to in the ap- 
proaching election. 

We further declare, that we do not recognize in the Baltimore Conven- 
tian the essential conditions of a truly National Convention. Its prox- 
imity to the centre of all the interested influences of the administration, its 
distance from the centre of the country, its mode of convocation, the 
corrupting practices to which it has been and inevitably will be sub- 
jected, do not permit the people to assemble there with any expecta 
tion of being able to deliberate at full liberty. Convinced as we are 
that, in presence of the critical circumstances in which the nation is 
placed, it is only in the energy and good sense of the people that the 
general safety can be found; satisfied that the only way to consult it is 
to indicate a central position, to which every one may go without too 
much expenditu:e of means and time, and where the assembled people, 
far from all administrative influence, may consult freely and deliberate 
peaceably, with the presence of the greatest possible number of men, 
whose known principles guarantee their sincere and enlightened devotion 
to the rights of the people and to the preservation of the true basis of 
republican government, — we earnestly invite our fellow-citizens to unite 
at Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, May 31, current, for consultation and 
concert of action in respect to the approaching Presidential election. 

Two other calls were issued after this, prominent 
among the signers of which were some of the Germans 
of Missouri and some of the old Kadical Abolitionists of 
the East. 

The convention thus summoned met at the appointed 
time, about one hundred and fifty in number. JS r o call had 
ever been put forward for the election of delegates to it, 
and no one could tell whether its members represented 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 551 

any constituency other than themselves. They came from 
fifteen different States and the District of Columbia, "but 
every one knew that at the East the movement had no 
strength whatever. An effort was made by some of 
them to bring forward the name of General Grant as a 
candidate, but the friends of Fremont formed altogether 
too large a majority for that. 

General John Cochrane, of New York, was chosen to 
preside over the convention. In the afternoon the plat- 
form was presented, consisting of thirteen brief resolu- 
tions, favoring the suppression of the rebellion, the pres- 
ervation of the habeas corpus, of the right of asylum, and 
the Monroe doctrine, recommending amendments of the 
Constitution to prevent the re-establishment of slavery, 
and to provide for the election of President and Vice- 
President for a single term only, and by the direct vote 
of the people, and also urging the confiscation of the 
lands of the rebels and their distribution among the sol 
diers and actual settlers. 

The platform having been adopted, the convention pro- 
ceeded to nominate General Fremont for President by 
acclamation. General Cochrane was nominated for Vice- 
President. The title of ''The Radical Democracy' 7 was 
chosen for the supporters of the ticket, a National Com 
tnittee was appointed, and the convention adjourned. 

General Fremont's letter of acceptance was dated June 
4th. Its main scope was an attack upon Mr. Lincoln for 
unfaithfulness to the principles he was elected to defend, 
and. upon his Administration for incapacity and selfishness, 
and for what the writer called "its disregard of constitu- 
tional rights, its violation of personal liberty and the 
liberty of the press, and, as a crowning shame, its aban- 
donment of the right of asylum, dear to all free nations 
abroad." 

The platform he approved, with the exception of the 
proposed confiscation. He intimated that if the Balti- 
more Convention would nominate any one but Mr. Lin 
coin he would not stand in the way of a union of all upon 
that nominee ; but said, "If Mr. Lincoln be renominated, 



552 The Life, Public Services, and 

as I believe it would be fatal to the country to indorse a 
policy and renew a power which has cost us the lives of 
thousands of men and needlessly put the country on the 
road to bankruptcy, there will remain no alternative but to 
organize against him every element of conscientious op 
position, with the view to prevent the misfortune of his 
re-election." And he accepted the nomination, and an- 
nounced that he had resigned his commission in the 
army. 

The convention, the nomination, and the letter of ac- 
ceptance, fell dead upon the popular feeling. The time 
had been when Fremont's name had power, especially 
with the young men of the country. Many had felt that 
he had received less than he deserved at the hands of 
the Administration, and that if the opportunity had been 
afforded he would have rendered to the country distin- 
guished and valuable service. But the position which he 
had here taken at once separated him from those who had 
been his truest friends, whose feelings were accurately 
expressed by Governor Morton, of Indiana, in a speech at 
Indianapolis on the 12th of June, when he said : "I car- 
ried the standard of General Fremont to the best of my 
poor ability through the canvass of 1S56, and I have 
since endeavored to sustain him, not only as a politician, 
but as a military chieftain, and never until I read this 
letter did I have occasion to regret what I have done. It 
has been read with joy by his enemies and with pain by 
his friends, and, omitting one or two sentences, there is 
nothing in it that might not have been written or sub- 
scribed without inconsistency by Mr. Vallandigham." 

The next form which the effort to prevent Mr. Lin- 
coln's nomination and election took, was an effort to bring 
forward General Grant as a candidate. A meeting had 
been called for the 4th of June, in New York, ostensibly 
to express the gratitude of the nation to him and the sol- 
diers under his command, for their labors and successes. 
As a matter of course the meeting was large and enthusi- 
astic. President Lincoln wrote the following letter in 
answer to an invitation to attend : — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 553 

Executive Mansion, Washington, June 3, 1864. 

Hon. F. A. Conkling and others : 

Gentlemen: — Your letter, inviting me to be present at a mass meet- 
ing of loyal citizens, to be held at New York, on tbe 4th instant, 
for the purpose of expressing gratitude to Lieutenant-General Grant for 
his signal services, was received yesterday. It is impossible for me to 
attend. I approve, nevertbeless, of whatever may tend to strengthen and 
sustain General Grant and the noble armies now under his direction. 
My previous high estimate of General Grant has been maintained and 
heightened by what has occurred in the remarkable campaign he is now 
conducting, while the magnitude and difficulty of the task before him 
does not prove less than I expected. He and his brave soldiers are now 
in the midst of their great trial, and I trust that at your meeting you 
will so shape your good words that they may turn to men and guns, 
moving to his and their support. 

Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 

Whatever political purposes prompted the call for this 
meeting, they were entirely overborne by the simple but 
resistless appeal, made by the President in this letter, to 
the patriotism of the country. Its effect was to stimulate 
instantly and largely the effort to fill up the ranks of the 
army, and thus aid General Grant in the great campaign 
by which he hoped to end the war. In a private letter 
to a personal friend, however, General Grant put a 
decisive check upon all these attempts of politicians to 
make his name the occasion of division among Union 
men, by peremptorily refusing to allow himself to be 
made a candidate, and by reiterating in still more emphatic 
and hopeful terms the President's appeal to the people 
for aid and support. 

None of these schemes of ambitious aspirants to politi- 
cal leadership had any effect upon the settled sentiment 
and purpose of the great body of the people. They 
appreciated the importance of continuing the administra- 
tion of the government in the same channel, and saw 
clearly enough that nothing would more thoroughly 
impress upon the rebels and the world the determination 
of the people to preserve the Union at all hazards, and at 
whatever cost, than the indorsement by a popular vote, 
in spite of all mistakes and defects of policy, of the 



554 The Life, Public Services, and 

President, by whom the war had thus far been conducted. 
The nation, moreover, had entire faith in his integrity, 
his sagacity, and his unselfish devotion to the public 
good. 

The Union and Republican Convention met at Balti- 
more on the day appointed, the 8th of June. It numbered 
nearly five hundred delegates, chosen by the constituents 
.of each Congressional district of the loyal States, and by 
the people in Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas, in 
which the rebel authority had been overthrown, and 
who sought thus to renew their political relations with 
the parties of the Union. The Rev. Robert J. Breckin- 
ridge, of Kentucky, was appointed temporary chairman, 
and aroused the deepest enthusiasm of the convention 
by his patriotic address on taking the chair. He pro- 
claimed openly his hostility to slavery, and demanded, as 
essential to the existence of the nation, the complete 
overthrow of the rebellion, and condign punishment for 
the traitors by whom it had been set on foot. In refer- 
ence to the nomination of a presidential candidate, he 
simply expressed the common sentiment when he said : — 

Nothing can be more plain than the fact that you are here as rep- 
resentatives of a great nation — voluntary representatives, chosen with- 
out forms of law, but as really representing the feelings and principles, 
and, if you choose, the prejudices of the American people, as if it were 
written in their laws and already passed by their votes. For the man 
that you will nominate here for the Presidency of the United States and 
ruler of a great people, in a great crisis, is just as certain, I suppose, 
to become that ruler as any thing under heaven is certain before it is 
done. And moreover you will allow me to say, though perhaps it is 
hardly strictly proper that I should, but as far as I know your opin- 
ions, I suppose it is just as certain now, before you utter it, whose name 
you will utter — one which rill be responded to from one end to the 
other of this nation, as it will be after it has been uttered and recorded 
by your secretary." 

The permanent organization was effected in the 
afternoon, by the choice of Hon. William Dennison, Ex 
Governor of Ohio, as president, with twenty-three vice 
presidents, each from a different State, and twenty- three 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 555 

secretaries. After a speecli from Governor Dennison, and 
another from Parson Brownlow, of Tennessee, the con 
vention adjourned till Wednesday morning at nine 
o'clock. 

The first business which came up when the conven- 
tion reassembled, was the report of the Committee on 
Credentials. There were two important questions which 
arose upon this report. The first was the Missouri ques- 
tion — there being a double delegation present from that 
State. The committee had reported in favor of admitting 
the delegation called the Radical Union Delegation to 
seats in the convention, as the only one elected in con- 
formity with usage and in regular form. An effort was 
made to modify this by admitting both delegations to seats, 
and allowing them to cast the vote of the State only in 
case of their agreement. This proposition, however, was 
voted down by a large majority, and the report of the 
committee on that point was adopted. This result had 
special importance in its bearing upon the vexed state of 
politics in Missouri, which had hitherto, as we have seen, 
caused Mr. Lincoln much trouble. 

The next question, which had still greater importance, 
related to the admission of the delegations from Tennessee, 
Arkansas, and Louisiana. Congress had passed a resolu- 
tion substantially excluding States which had been in re- 
bellion from participation in national affairs until specifi- 
cally readmitted to the Union — while it was known that 
President Lincoln regarded all ordinances of secession as 
simply null and void, incapable of affecting the legal rela- 
tions of the States to the National Government. At the 
very opening of the convention an effort had been made 
by Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, to secure 
the adoption of a resolution against the admission of dele- 
gates from any States thus situated. This, however, had 
failed, and the whole matter was referred to the Committee 
on Credentials, of which Hon. Preston King, of New 
York, had been appointed chairman. Mr. King, on be- 
half of this committee and under its instructions, reported 
in favor of admitting these delegates to seats, but without 



556 The Life, Public Services, and 

giving them the right to vote. Mr. King, for himself, 
however, and as the only member of the committee who 
dissented from its report, moved to amend it by giving 
them equal rights in convention with delegates from the 
other States. This amendment was adopted by a large j 
majority, and affected in a marked degree the subsequent 
action of the convention. The report was further amend- 
ed so as to admit delegates from the Territories of Colo- 
rado, Nebraska, and Nevada, and also from Florida and 
Virginia, without the right to vote — and excluding a 
delegation from South Carolina. Tims amended it was 
adopted. 

Mr. IT. J. Raymond, of New York, as chairman of the 
Committee on Resolutions, then reported the following 
declaration of principles and policy for the Union and 
Republican party : — 

THE BALTIMORE PLATFORM. 

Resohed, That it i3 the highest duty of every American citizen to 
maintain, against all their enemies, the integrity of the Union and the par- 
amount authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States; and 
that, laving aside all differences of political opinion, we pledge our- 
selves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment and aiming at a 
common object, to do every thing in our power to aid the Government 
in quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its author- 
ity, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and 
traitors arrayed against it. 

Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Government of 
the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer any terms of 
peace except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of 
their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution 
and laws of the United States; and that we call upon the Government 
to maintain this position and to prosecute the war with the utmost pos- 
sible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance 
upon the self-sacrificing patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying 
devotion of the American people to their country and its free institu- 
tions. 

Resolved, That as slavery was the cause and now constitutes the 
strength of this rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hos- 
tile to the principles of republican government, justice and the national 
safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the 
republic ; and that while we uphold and maintain the acts and proclama« 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 557 

ticms by which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a death- 
blow at this gigantic evil, we are in favor, furthermore, of such an 
amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the people, in confor- 
mity with its provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the 
existence of slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United 
States. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the sol- 
diers and sailors of the army and the navy, who have perilled their lives 
in defence of their country and in vindication of the honor of its flag; 
that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of their patri- 
otism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of 
their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in the 
service of their country ; and that the memories of those who have fallen 
in its defence shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. 

Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the un- 
selfish patriotism, and the unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the 
prihciples of American liberty with which Abraham Lincoln has dis- 
charged, under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties 
and responsibilities of the Presidential office ; that we approve and in- 
dorse, as demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation 
of the nation, and as within the provisions of the Constitution, the meas- 
ures and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open 
and secret foes ; that we approve especially the Proclamation of Eman- 
cipation and the employment as Union soldiers of men heretofore held 
in slavery ; and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry 
these and all other constitutional measures, essential to the salvation of 
the country, into full and complete effect. 

Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that har- 
mony should prevail in our national councils, and we regard as worthy 
of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially indorse 
the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should charac- 
terize the administration of the Government. 

Resolved, That the Government owes to all men employed in its 
armies, without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the 
laws of war, and that any violation of these laws, or the usages of civ- 
ilized nations in time of war, by the rebels now in arms, should be made 
the subject of prompt and full redress. 

Resolved, That the foreign immigration which in the past has added so 
much to the wealth, development of resources, and increase of power of 
this nation, the asylum of the oppressed of all nations, should be fostered 
and encouraged by a liberal and just policy. 

Resolved, That we are in favor of a speedy construction of the railroad 
to the Pacific coast. 

Resolved, That the national faith, pledged for the redemption of the 
public debt, must bo kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recom- 
mend economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a 



558 The Life, Public Services, and 

vigorous and just system of taxation, and that it is the duty of every loyal 
State to sustain the credit and promote the use of the national currency. 
Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the Government, 
that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference 
the attempt of any European power to overthrow by force, or to supplant 
by fraud, the institutions of any republican government on the Western 
Continent; and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing 
to the peace and independence of their own country, the efforts of any 
such power to obtain new footholds for monarchical governments, sus- 
tained by foreign military force, in near proximity to the United States, j 

These resolutions were adopted unanimously and with 
great enthusiasm. A motion was then made that Abra- 
ham Lincoln be nominated for re-election by acclamation, 
but this was afterwards withdrawn, and a ballot taken 
in the usual way ; the only votes that were not given 
for Mr. Lincoln were the twenty-two votes of Missouri, 
which, as was explained by the chairman of the delega- 
tion, were given under positive instructions for General 
Grant. Mr. Lincoln received four hundred and ninety- 
seven votes, and on motion of Mr. Hume, of Missouri, his 
nomination was made unanimous, amid intense enthu- 
siasm. 

The contest over the Vice-Presidency was spirited 
but brief. The candidates before the convention were 
Vice-President Hamlin, Hon. D. S. Dickinson, of New 
York, and Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee. The strug- 
gle lay however between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Dickinson. 
The action of the Convention in admitting the delegates 
from Tennessee to full membership had a powerful effect 
in determining the result, Mr. Johnson received two 
hundred votes on the first call of the States, and it being- 
manifest that he was to be the nominee, other States 
changed, till the vote, when declared, stood four hundred 
and ninety-two for Johnson, seventeen for Dickinson, and 
nine for Hamlin. 

The National Executive Committee was then appointed, 
and the convention adjourned. On Thursday, June 9, 
the committee appointed to inform Mr. Lincoln of his 
nomination waited upon him at the White House. Gov- 
ernor Dennison, the President of the Convention and 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 550 

Chairman of the Committee, addressed him as fol 
lows : — 

Mr. President : — The National Union Convention, which closed its 
sittings at Baltimore yesterday, appointed a committee, consisting of one 
from each State, •with myself as chairman, to inform you of your unani- 
mous nomination hy that convention for election to the office of President 
of the United States. That committee, I have the honor of now inform- 
ing you, is present. On its behalf I have also the honor of presenting you 
with a copy of the resolutions or platform adopted by that convention, as 
expressive of its sense and of the sense of the loyal people of the country 
which it represents, of the principles and policy that should characterize 
the administration of the Government in the present condition of the 
country. I need not say to you, sir, that the convention, in thus unani- 
mously nominating you for re-election, but gave utterance to the almost 
universal voice of the loyal people of the country. To doubt of your 
triumphant election would be little short of abandoning the hope of a final 
suppression of the rebellion and the restoration of the government over the 
insurgent States. Neither the convention nor those represented by that 
body entertained any doubt as to the final result, under your administra- 
tion, sustained by the loyal people, and by our noble army and gallant 
navy. Neither did the convention, nor do this committee, doubt the 
speedy suppression of this most wicked and unprovoked rebellion. 

[A copy of the resolutions, which had been adopted, was here handed 
to the President.] 

I would add, Mr. President, that it would be the pleasure of the com- 
mittee to communicate to you within a few days, through one of its most 
accomplished members, Mr. Curtis, of New York, by letter, more at length 
the circumstances under which you have been placed in nomination for 
the Presidency. 

The President said in response : — 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Committee : — I will neither 
conceal my gratification, nor restrain the expression of my gratitude, that 
the Union people, through their convention, in the continued effort to 
save and advance the nation, have deemed me not unworthy to remain in 
my present position. I know no reason to doubt that I shall accept the 
nomination tendered; and yet, perhaps, I should not declare definitely 
before reading and considering what is called the platform. I will say 
now, however, that I approve the declaration in favor of so amending the 
Constitution as to prohibit slavery throughout the nation. When the 
people in revolt, with the hundred days 1 explicit notice that they could 
within those days resume their allegiance without the overthrow of their 
institutions, and that they could not resume it afterward, elected to stand 
out, such an amendment of the Constitution as is now proposed became a 



560 The Life, Public Services, and 

fitting and necessary conclusion to the final success of the Union cause. 
Such alone can meet and cover all cavils. I now perceive its importance 
and embrace it. In the joint names of Liberty and Union let us labor to 
give it legal form and practical effect. 

At the conclusion of the President's speech, all of the 
committee shook him cordially by the hand and offered 
their personal congratulations. 

On the same afternoon a deputation from the National 
Union League waited upon the President, and the chair- 
man addressed him as follows : — 

Mr. President: — I have the honor of introducing to you the repre- 
sentatives of the Union League of the Loyal States, to congratulate you 
upon your renomination, and to assure you that we will not fail at the polls 
to give you the support that your services in the past so highly deserve. 
We feel honored in doing this, for we are assured that we are aiding in 
ve-electing to the proud position of President of the United States one so 
highly worthy of it— one among not the least of whose claims is that he 
was the emancipator of four millions of bondmen. 

The President reyjlied as follows : — 

Gentlemen : — I can only say in response to the remarks of your chair- 
man, that I am very grateful for the renewed confidence which has been 
accorded to me, botli by the convention and by the National League. I 
am not insensible at all to the personal compliment there is in this, yet I 
do not allow myself to believe that any but a small portion of it is to be 
appropriated as a personal compliment to me. The convention and the 
nation, I am assured, are alike animated by a higher view of the interests of 
the country, for the present and the great future, and the part I am entitled 
to appropriate as v a compliment i? only that part which I may lay hold of as 
being the opinion of the convention and of the League, that I am not en- 
tirely unworthy to be intrusted with the place I have occupied for the 
last three years. I have not permitted myself, gentlemen, to conclude 
that I am the best man in the country; but I am reminded in this con- 
nection of a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion 
once that " it was not best to swap horses when crossing a stream." 

On the evening of the same day the President was ser- 
enaded by the delegation from Ohio, and to them and 
the large crowd which had gathered there, he made the 
following "brief speech : — 

Gentlemen: — I am very much obliged to you for this compliment. I 
have just being saying, and will repeat it, that the hardest of all speeches I 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 561 

have to answer is a serenade. I never know what to say on these occa- 
sions. I suppose that you have done me this kindness in connection with 
the action of the Baltimore Convention, which has recently taken [/lace, 
and with which, of course, I am very well satisfied. What we want still 
more than Baltimore Conventions, or Presidential elections, is succes3 
under General Grant. I propose that you constantly bear in mind that 
the support you owe to the brave officers and soldiers in the field is of the 
very first importance, and we should therefore bend all our energies to that 
point. Now without detaining you any longer, I propose that you help mo 
to close up what I am now saying with three rousing cheers for General 
Grant and the officers and soldiers under his command. 

The rousing cheers were given — Mr. Lincoln himself 
leading off, and waving his hat as earnestly as any one 
present. 

The written address of the Committee of the Convention 
announcing his nomination, sent to him a few days after- 
wards, was as follows : — 

New Tokk, June 14, 1SS4. 

Hon. Abraham Lixcoln : 

Sir: — The National Union Convention, which assembled in Baltimore 
on June 7th, 1864, has instructed us to inform you that you were nomi- 
nated with enthusiastic unanimity for the Presidency of the United States 
for four years from the 4th of March next. 

The resolutions of the convention, which we have already had the 
pleasure of placing in your hands, are a fall and clear statement of tho 
principles which inspired its action, and- which, as we believe, the great 
body of Union men in the country heartily approve. Whether those 
resolutions express the national gratitude to our soldiers and sailors, or 
the national scorn of compromise with rebels, and consequent dishonor, 
or the patriotic duty of union and success; whether they approve the 
Proclamation of Emancipation, the Constitutional Amendment, the em- 
ployment of former slaves as Union soldiers, or the solemn obligation of 
the Government promptly to redress the wrongs of every soldier of the 
Union, of whatever color or race; whether they declare the inviolability 
of the plighted faith of the nation, or oiler the national hospitality to the 
oppressed of every land, or urge the union by railroad of the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans ; whether they recommend public economy and vigorous 
taxation, or assert the fixed popular opposition to the establishment by 
armed fbrce of foreign monarchies in the immediate neighborhood of the 
United States, or declare that those only are worthy of official trust who 
approve unreservedly the views and policy indicated in the resolutions — 
they were equally hailed with 'the heartiness of profound conviction. 

Believing with you, sir, that this is the people's war for the maintenance 
of a Government which you have justly described as "of the people, by 
3(5 



562 The Life, Public Services, and 

the people, for the people," we are very sure that von will he glad to 
know, not only from the resolutions themselves, but from the singular 
harmony and enthusiasm with which they were adopted, how warm is 
the popular welcome of every measure in the prosecution of the war 
which is as vigorous, unmistakable, and unfaltering as the national pur- 
pose itself. JSTo right, for instance, is so precious and sacred to tho 
American heart as that of personal liberty. Its violation is regarded 
with just, instant, and universal jealousy. Yet, in this hour of peril, 
every faithful citizen concedes that, for the sake of national existence and 
the common welfare, individual liberty may, as the Constitution provides 
in case of rebellion, be sometimes summarily constrained, asking only 
with painful anxiety that in every instance, and to the least detail, that 
absolute necessary power shall not be hastily or unwisely exercised. 

We believe, sir, that the honest will of the Union men of the country 
was never more truly represented than in this convention. Their pur- 
pose we believe to be the overthrow of armed rebels in the field, and the 
security of permanent peace and union, by liberty and justice, under tho 
Constitution. That these results are to be achieved amid cruel perplex- 
ities, they are fully aware. That they are to bo reached only through 
cordial unanimity of counsel, is undeniable. That good men may some- 
times differ as to the means and the time, they know. That in the 
conduct of all human affairs the highest duty is to determine, in the 
angry conflict of passion, how much good may be practically accom- 
plished, is their sincere persuasion. They have watched your official 
course, therefore, with unflagging attention ; and amid the bitter taunts 
of eager friends and the fierce denunciation of enemies, now moving too 
fast for some, now too slowly for others, they have seen you throughout 
this tremendous contest patient, sagacious, faithful, just— leaning upon 
the heart of the great mass of the people, and satisfied to be moved by its 
mighty pulsations. 

It is for this reason that, long before the convention met, the popular 
instiuct indicated you as its candidate; and the convention, therefore,, 
merely recorded the popular will. Your character and career prove 
your unswerving fidelity to tho cardinal principles of American liberty 
and of the American Constitution. In the name of that liberty and Con- 
stitution, sir, we earnestly request your acceptance of this nomination ; 
reverently commending our beloved country, and you, its Chief Magis- 
trate, with all its brave sons who, on sea and land, are faithfully defend- 
ing the good old American cause of equal rights, to the blessing of 
Almighty God. 

We are, sir, very respectfully, your friends and fellow-citizens. , 

"War. Dennisoet, O., Chairman. W. Bubhnell, 111. 

'Josiah Drummoxd, Maine. L. P. Alexander, Mich. 

Tnos. E. Sawyer, N. II. A. W. Randall, Wis. 

Bradley Barlow, Vt. A. Oliver, Iowa. 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln, 



5G3 



A. IT. Bullock, Mass. 
A. M. Gammell, It. I. 
C. S. Bushnell, Conn. 
G. W. Curtis, N. Y. 
TV. A. Newell, N. J". 
Henbt Johnson, Penn. 
N. B. Smithees, Del. 
W. L. W. Seabeook, Md. 
John F. Hume, Mo. 
G. W. Bite, Ky. 
E. P. Ttffe, Ohio. 
Cyrus M. Allen, Ind. 



Thomas Simpson, Minn. 
John Bidwell, Cal. 
Thomas H. Pearne, Oregon. 
Leroy Kramer, West Va. 
A. C. "Wilder, Kansas. 
M. M. Brien, Tennessee. 
J. P. Greves, Nevada. 
A. A. Atocha, La. 
A. S. Paddock, Nebraska. 
Valentine Dell, Arkansas. 
John A. Nye, Colorado. 
A. B. Sloanaker, Utah. 



REPLY OF MR. LINCOLN. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, June 27, ISC4. 

Hon. Wm. Dennison and others, a Committee if ike Union National Con- 
tention: 

Gentlemen: — Your letter of the 14th inst., formally notifying me that 
T have been nominated by the convention you represent for the Presi- 
dency of the United States for four years from the 4th of March nest, has 
been received. The nomination is gratefully accepted, as the resolutions 
of the convention, called the platform, are heartily approved. 

While the resolution in regard to the supplanting of republican govern- 
ment upon the Western Continent is fully concurred in, there might be 
misunderstanding were I not to say that the position of the Government 
in relation to the action of France in Mexico, as assumed through the 
State Department and indorsed by the convention among the measures 
and acts of the Executive, will be faithfully maintained so long as the 
state of facts shall leave that position pertinent and applicable. 

I am especially gratified that the soldier and seaman were not forgotten 
by the convention, as they forever must and will be remembered by tha 
grateful country for whose salvation they devote their lives. 

Thanking you for the kind and complimentary terms in which you 
have communicated the nomination and other proceedings of the con- 
vention, I subscribe myself, 

Your obedient servant, 

Abraham Lincoln. 



The platform adopted "by the Baltimore Convention 
met with the general approval of those of the people who 
claimed to be the supporters of the Government. One 
exception was, however, found in the person of Mr. 
Charles Gibson, Solicitor of the United States in the 



5G4 The Life, Puelic Services, and 

Court of Claims at St. Louis, who, considering, as he 
Baid, that that platform rendered his retention of office 
under Mr. Lincoln's Administration wholly useless to the 
country, as well as inconsistent with his principles, ten- 
dered his resignation, through the clerk of the Court of 
Claims, Mr. Welling. 

The President's reply, communicated through his pri- 
vate secretary, was as follows : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 25, lSfri. 

J. C. Welling, Esq.: — 

According to the request contained in your note, I have placed Mr. 
Gibson's letter of resignation in the hands of the President. He has 
read the letter, and says he accepts the resignation, as he will be glad to 
do with any other, which may be tendered, as this is, for the purpose of 
taking an attitude of hostility against him. 

He says he was not aware that he was so much indebted to Mr. Gibson 
for having accepted the office at first, not remembering that he ever 
pressed him to do so, or that he gave it otherwise than as usual, upon 1 a 
request made on behalf of Mr. Gibson. 

He thanks Mr. Gibson for his acknowledgment that ho has been treated 
with personal kindness and consideration, and he says he knows of but 
two small drawbacks upon Mr. Gibson's right to still receive such treat- 
ment, one of which is that he could never learn of his giving much 
attention to the duties of his office, and the other is this studied attemnt 
of Mr. Gibson's to stab him. 

I am, very truly, 

Your obedient servant, 

Joun Hat. 

The elements of opposition to Mr. Lincoln's election in 
the ranks of his own party were checked, though not 
wholly destroyed, "by the unanimity of his nomination. 
Conferences were still held among prominent men, espe- 
cially in the city of New York, for the purpose of organ- 
izing this hostility and making it effective, and a call Avas 
put in circulation for a convention to he held at Cincin- 
nati, to put in nomination another candidate. The move- 
ment, however, was so utterly destitute of popular sym- 
pathy that it was soon abandoned. A very sharp and 
acrimonious warfare was still waged upon Mr. Lincoln 
and his Administration not only by the leading presses 
of the opposition, but by prominent men and influential 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 565 

journals ostensibly in the ranks of his supporters. Every 
act of the government was canvassed with eager and un- 
friendly scrutiny, and made, wherever it was possible, the 
ground of hostile assault. 

Among the matters thus seized upon was the sur- 
render to the Spanish authorities of a Cuban named 
Arguelles, which was referred to by the Fremont Con- 
vention as a denial of the right of asylum. This man, 
Don Jose Augustine Arguelles, was a colonel in the 
Spanish army, and Lieutenant-Governor of the District 
of Colon, in Cuba. As such, in November, 18G3, he 
effected the capture of a large number of slaves that were 
landed within his district, and received from the Govern- 
ment of Cuba praise for his efficiency, and the sum of 
fifteen thousand dollars for his share of prize-money on 
the capture. Shortly afterwards, he obtained leave of 
absence for twenty days, for the purpose of going to New 
York and there making the purchase of the Spanish 
newspaper called La Cronica. He came to New York, 
and there remained. In March following, the Cuban 
Government made application to our authorities, through 
the Consul-General's office at Havana, stating that it had 
been discovered that Arguelles, with others, had been 
guilty of the crime of selling one hundred and forty-one 
of the cargo of negroes thus captured, into slavery, and 
by means of forged papers representing to the Govern- 
ment that they had died after being landed ; stating also 
that his return to Cuba was necessary to procure the 
liberation of his hapless victims, and desiring to know 
whether the Government of the United States would 
cause him to be returned to Cuba. Documents authen- 
ticating the facts of the case were forwarded to our 
authorities. There being no extradition treaty between 
our countrjT- and Spain, the Cuban Government could 
take no proceedings before the courts in the matter, 
and the only question was whether our Government 
would take the responsibility of arresting Arguelles and 
sending him back or not. The Government determined 
to assume the responsibility, and sent word to the Cuban 



566 The Life, Public Services, and 

authorities that if they would send a suitable officer to 
New York, measures would be taken to place Arguelles 
in his charge. The officer was sent, and Arguelles hav- 
ing been arrested, by the United States Marshal at 
New York, was, before any steps could be taken to 
appeal to any of the courts on his behalf, put on board a 
steamer bound for Havana. This proceeding caused 
great indignation until the facts were understood. Ar- 
guelles having money, had found zealous friends in 
New York, and a strong effort was made in his favor. 
It was stated on his behalf that, instead of being 
guilty of selling these negroes into slavery, it was the 
desire of the Cuban authorities to get possession of him 
and silence him, lest he should publish facts within his 
knowledge which implicated the authorities themselves 
in that nefarious traffic. And the fact that he was taken 
as he was, by direct order of the Government, not by any 
legal or judicial proceedings, and without having the 
opportunity to test before the courts the right of the 
Government thus to send back any one, however criminal, 
was alleged to spring from the same disregard of liberty 
and law in which the arbitrary arrests which had been 
made of rebel sympathizers were said to have had their 
source. Proceedings were even taken against the United 
States Marshal under a statute of the State of New York 
against kidnapping, and everywhere the enemies of the 
Administration found in the Arguelles case material for 
assailing it as having trampled upon the right of asylum, 
exceeded its own legal powers, insulted the laws and 
courts of the land, and endangered the liberties of the 
citizen ; while the fact of its having aided in the punish- 
ment of an atrocious crime, a crime intimately connected 
with the slave-trade, so abhorrent to the sympathies of 
the people, was kept out of sight. 

Another incident used to feed the public distrust of 
the Administration, was the temporary suppression of 
two Democratic newspapers in the city of New York. 
On Wednesday, May 18th, these two papers, the World 
and the Journal of Commerce, published what purported 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 5G7 

to "be a proclamation of President Lincoln. At this time, 
as will be recollected, General Grant was still struggling 
with Lee "before Spottsylvania, with terrible slaughter 
and doubtful prospects, while Sigel bad been driven 
back by Imboden, and Butler was held in check by 
Beauregard. This proclamation announced to the coun- 
try that General Grant's campaign was virtually closed ; 
and, "in view of the situation in Virginia, the disaster at 
Red River, the delay at Charleston, and the general state 
of the country," it appointed the 26th of May as a day 
of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, and ordered a fresh 
draft of four hundred thousand men. The morning of its 
publication was the day of the departure of the mails for 
Europe. Before its character was discovered, this forged 
proclamation, telegraphed all over the country, had 
raised the price of gold five or six per cent,, and car- 
ried discouragement and dismay to the popular heart. 
The suppression of the papers by which it had been 
published, the emphatic denial of its authenticity, and 
the prompt adoption of measures to detect its author, 
speedily reassured the public mind. After being satis- 
fied that the publication of the document was inadver- 
tent, the journals seized were permitted to resume publi- 
cation, the authors of the forgery were sent to Fort 
Lafayette, and public affairs resumed their ordinary 
course. 

But the action of the Government gave fresh stimulus 
to the partisan warfare upon it. As in the Arguelles case 
and the arbitrary arrests it had been charged with tram- 
pling upon the liberties of the citizen, so now it was charged 
with attacking the liberty of the press. Governor 
Seymour directed the District Attorney of New York to 
take measures for the prosecution and punishment of all 
who had been connected with shutting up the newspaper 
offices. The matter was brought before a grand-jury, 
which reported that it was " inexpedient to examine into 
the subject." 

Determined not to be thus thwarted, Governor Sey- 
mour, alleging that the grand-jury had disregarded their 



5GS The Life, Public Services, and 

oaths, directed the District Attorney to bring the subject 
before some magistrate. Warrants were accordingly 
issued by City Judge Russell for the arrest of General 
Dix and the officers who had acted in the matter. The 
parties voluntarily appeared before the judge, and an 
argument of the legal questions involved was had. The 
judge determined to hold General Dix and the rest for 
the action of the grand-jury. One grand-jury, however, 
had already refused to meddle with the matter, and, 
greatly to the disappointment of those who had aimed 
to place the State of New York in a position of open 
hostility to the Government of the United States, no fur- 
ther proceedings were ever taken in the matter. 

An effort was made to bring the subject up in Con- 
gress. Among other propositions, Mr. Brooks, of New 
York, proposed to add, as an amendment to a bill for 
the incorporation of a Newsboys' Home in the District of 
Columbia, a provision that no newspaper should be sup- 
pressed in Washington, or its editor incarcerated, without 
due process of law. He succeeded in making a speech 
abounding in denunciations of the Government, but had 
no other success. 

To those men at the North who really sympathized with 
the South on the slavery question, the whole policy of 
the Administration upon that subject was distasteful. 
The Emancipation Proclamation, the repeal of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law, and even the employment of negroes in 
the army, were with them grave causes of complaint 
against it. The President's views on this matter were 
expressed in the following conversational remarks, to some 
prominent Western gentlemen : — 

The slightest knowledge of arithmetic (said he) will prove to any 
man that the rehel armies cannot he destroyed by Democratic strategy. 
It would sacrifice all the white men of the North to do it. There are 
now in the service of the United States nearly two hundred thousand 
able-bodied colored men, most of them under arms, defending and ac- 
quiring Union territory. The Democratic strategy demands that these 
forces be disbanded, and that the masters be conciliated by restoring them 
to slavery. The black men who new q M Union prisoners to escape 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 5G9 

arc to be converted into. our enemies, in the vain hope of gaining the 
good-will of their masters. We shall have to fight two nations instead 
of one. 

You cannot conciliate the South if you guarantee to them ultimate 
success, and the experience of the present war proves their success is 
inevitable if you fling the compulsory labor of four millions of black men 
into their side of the scale. Will you give our enemies such military 
advantages as insure success, and then depend upon coaxing, flattery, and 
concession to get them back into the Union? Abandon all the forts now 
garrisoned by black men, take two hundred thousand men from our side, . 
and put them in the battle-field, or cornfield, against us, and we would 
be compelled to abandon the war in three weeks. 

We have to hold territory in inclement and sickly places. Where are 
the Democrats to do this? It was a free fight, and the field was open to 
the War Democrats to put down this rebellion by fighting against both 
master and slave long before the present policy was inaugurated. There 
have been men base enough to propose to me to return to slavery our 
black warriors of Port Hudson and Olustee. and thus win the respect of 
the masters they fought. Should I do so, I should deserve to be damned 
in time and eternity. Come what will, I will keep my faith with friend and 
foe. My enemies pretend I am now carrying on this war for the solo 
purpose of abolition. So long as I am President it shall be carried on 
for the sole purpose of restoring the Union. But no human power can 
subdue tins rebellion without the use of the emancipation policy, and 
every other policy calculated to weaken the moral aud physical forces of 
the rebellion. 

Freedom has given us two hundred thousand men, raised on Southern 
soil. It will give us more yet. Just so much it has abstracted from the 
enemy; and instead of checking the South, there are evidences of a fra- 
ternal feeling growing up between our men and the rank and file of the 
rebel soldiers. Let my enemies prove to the country that the destruction 
of slavery is not necessary to the restoration of the Union. I will abide 
the issue. 

Aside from the special causes of attack which we have 
mentioned, others were brought forward more general in 
their character. The burdens of the war were made 
especially prominent. Every thing discouraging was 
harped upon and magnified, every advantage Avas belittled 
and sneered at. The call for five hundred thousand men 
in June was even deprecated by the friends of the Ad- 
ministration, because of the political capital which its 
enemies would be sure to make of it. Nor was Mr. Lin- 
coln himself unaware that such would be the result, but, 



570 The Life, Public Services, and 

though recognizing the elements of dissatisfaction which 
it carried with it, he did not suffer himself to be turned 
aside in the least from the path which duty to his coun- 
try required him to pursue. The men were needed, he 
said, and must be had, and should he fail as a candidate 
for re-election in consequence of doing his duty to the 
country, he would have at least the satisfaction of going 
down with colors flying. 

Financial difficulties were also used in the same way. 
The gradual rise in the price of gold was pointed at as 
indicating the approach of that financial ruin which 
was surely awaiting the country, if the re-election of Mr. 
Lincoln should mark the determination of the people to 
pursue the course upon which they had entered. 

Amidst these assaults from his opponents, Mr. Lincoln 
seemed fairly entitled, at least, to the hearty support of 
all the members of his own party. And yet this very 
time was chosen by Senator Wade, of Ohio, and H. 
"Winter Davis, of Maryland, to make a violent attack upon 
him for the course which he had pursued in reference 
to the Reconstruction Bill, which he had not signed, but 
had given his reasons for not signing, in his proclama- 
tion of July 18th. They charged him with usurpation, 
with presuming upon the forbearance of his supporters, 
with defeating the will of the people by an Executive 
perversion of the Constitution, &c, &c, and closed a 
long and violent attack by saying that if he wished their 
support he "must confine himself to his Executive 
duties — to obey and execute, not make the laws — to sup- 
press by arms armed rebellion, arid leave political reorgan- 
ization to Congress." 

This manifesto, prepared with marked ability, and 
skilfully adapted to the purpose it was intended to serve, 
at first created some slight apprehension among the sup- 
porters of the President. But it was very soon felt that 
it met with no response from the popular heart, and it 
only served to give a momentary buoyancy to the hopes 
of the Opposition. 

Still another incident soon occurred to excite a con • 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 571 

siderable degree of public anxiety concerning the imme- 
diate political future. It was universally understood that 
a strong desire for peace pervaded the public mind, and 
that the determination to prosecute the war was the dic- 
tate of duty, rather than inclination. To such an extent 
did this longing for peace influence the sentiments and 
action of some, among the least 'resolute and hopeful of 
the political leaders in the Republican party, that ready 
access to them was found by agents of the Rebel Govern 
ment, stationed in Canada for such active service as cir- 
cumstances might require. Of these agents, who were 
then at Niagara Falls, were C. C. Clay, formerly United 
States Senator from Alabama, Professor Holcombe, of Vir- 
ginia, and George N. Sanders. Acting on their behalf 
and under their instructions, W. Cornell Jewett, an irre- 
sponsible and half-insane adventurer, had put himself in 
communication with Hon. Horace Greeley, Editor of the 
New York Tribune, whose intense eagerness for peace had 
already commended him to the admiration and sympathy 
of the emissaries of the Rebel Government. In reply to 
some letter which had been addressed to him, but which 
has not yet been made public, Jewett wrote on the 5th of 
July to Mr. Greeley the following letter : — 

Niagara. Falls, July 5, 1SG4. 

My Dear Mr. Greeley : — In reply to your note, I have to advise Lav- 
ing just left Hon. George 1ST. Sanders, of Kentucky, on the Canada side. I 
am authorized, to state to you, for our use' only, not the public, that tico 
ambassadors of Davis & Co. are now in Canada, with full and complete 
powers for a peace, and Mr. Sanders requests that you come on immedi- 
ately to me, at Cataract House, to have a private interview, or if you 
will send the President's protection for him and two friends, they will 
come on and meet yon. He says the whole matter can he consummated 
by me, you, them, and President Lincoln. Telegraph me in such form 
that I may know if you come here, or they to come on with me. 

Yours, W. C. Jewett. 

The next day Mr. Jewett also telegraphed as fol- 
lows : — 

II. Greeley, Tribune : 

Will you come here? Parties have full power. Wrote you yesterday 

Je>vett 



572 The Life, Public Services, and 

This letter and telegram Mr. Greeley enclosed to the 
President, at Washington, accompanied "by the follow- 
ing letter : — 

New Yoke, July 7, 1S64. 

My Dear Sir :• — I venture to enclose you a letter and telegraphic dis- 
patch that I received yesterday from our irrepressible friend, Colorado 
Jewett, at Niagara Falls. I think they deserve attention. Of course I 
do not indorse Jewett's positive averment that his friends at the Falls 
have "full powers" from J. D., though I do not doubt that he thinks 
they have. I let that statement stand as simply evidencing the anxiety 
of the Confederates everywhere for peace. So much is beyond doubt. 

And therefore I venture to remind you that our bleeding, bankrupt, 
almost dying country also longs for peace — shudders at the prospect of 
fresh conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of new rivers 
of human blood; and a wide-spread conviction that the Goverment and 
its prominent supporters are not anxious for peace, and do not improve 
proffered opportunities to achieve it, is doing great harm now, and is 
morally certain, unless removed, to do far greater in the approaching 
elections. 

It is not enough that we anxiously desire a true and lasting peace; we 
ought to demonstrate and establish the truth beyond cavil. The fact that 
A. II. Stephens was not permitted a year ago to visit and confer with 
the authorities at "Washington has done harm, which the tone at the late 
National Convention at Baltimore is not calculated to counteract. 

I entreat you, in your own time and manner, to submit overtures for 
pacification to the Southern insurgents, which the impartial must pro- 
nounce frank and generous. If only with a view to the momentous elec- 
tion soon to occur in North Carolina, and of the draft to he enforced in 
the Free States, this should he done at once. I would give the safe-con- 
duct required by the rebel envoys at Niagara, upon their parole to avoid 
observation and to refrain from all communication with their sympa- 
thizers in the loyal States ; but you may see reasons for declining it. But 
whether through them or otherwise, do not, I entreat you, fail to make 
the Southern people comprehend that you, and all of us, are anxious for 
peace, and prepared to grant liberal terms. I venture to suggest the fol- 
lowing 

PLAN OF ADJUSTMENT.' 

1. The Union is restored and declared perpetual. 

2. Slavery is utterly and forever abolished throughout the same. 

3. A complete amnesty for all political offences, with a restoration of 
all the- inhabitants of each State to all the privileges of citizens of the 
United States. 

!. The Union to pay four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000) in 
er cent, United States stock to the late Slave States, loyal and seees- 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. 573 

BJon alike, to be apportioned pro rata, according to their slave popula- 
tion respectively, by the census of 1860, in compensation for the losses 
of their loyal citizens by the abolition of slavery. Each State to be en- 
titled to its quota upon the ratification by its legislature of this adjust- 
ment. The bonds to be at the absolute disposal of the legislature afore- 
said. 

5. The said Slave States to bo entitled henceforth to representation in 
the House on the basis of their total, instead of their federal population, 
the whole now being free. 

6. A national convention, to be assembled so soon as may be, to ratify 
this adjustment, and make such changes in the Constitution as may be 
deemed advisable. 

Mr. President, I fear you do not realize how intently the people desire 
any peace consistent with the national integrity and honor, aud how 
joyously they would hail its achievement, and bless its authors. With 
United States stocks worth but forty cents in gold per dollar, and draft- 
ing about to commence on the third million of Union soldiers, can this 
be wondered at? 

I do not say that a just peace is now attainable, though I believe it to 
be so. But I do say that a frank offer by you to the insurgents of terms 
which the impartial say ought to be accepted will, at the worst, prove 
an immense and sorely needed advantage to the national cause. It may 
save us from a Northern insurrection. 

Yours, truly, 4 Horace Greeley. 

Hon. A. Lincolx, President, Washington, D. C. 

P. S. — Even though it should be deemed unadvisable to make an oflei 
of terms to the rebels, I insist that, in any possible case, it is desirable 
that any offer they may be disposed to make should be received, and 
either accepted or rejected. I beg you to invite those now at Niagara to 
exhibit their credentials and submit their ultimatum. H. G. 

To this letter the President sent the following answer : - - 

Washington, D. C, July 9, 1S61 

Hon. Horace Gkeej.ey: 

Dear Sir: — Your letter of the 7th, with enclosures, received. If you 
can find any person anywhere professing to have any proposition of Jef- 
ferson Davis, in writing, for peace, embracing the restoration of the 
Union and abandonment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to 
him he may come to me with you, and that if he really brings such prop- 
osition, he shall, at the least, have safe-conduct with the paper (and with- 
out publicity if he chooses) to the point where you shall have met him. 
The same if there be two or more persons. 

Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 



574 TnE Life, Public Services, and 

Mr. Greeley answered this letter as follows : — 



Office of the Teibuntc, New York, Jul)/ 10, 1S64. 

My Dear Sir: — I have yours of yesterday. Whether there be persona 
at Niagara (or elsewhere) who are empowered to commit the rebels by 
negotiation, is a question; but if there be such, there is no question at all 
that they would decline to exhibit their credentials to me, much more to 
wopen their budget and give me their best terms. Green as I may be, I am 
not quite so verdant as to imagine any thing of the sort. I have neither 
purpose nor desire to be made a confidant, far less an agent, in such nego- 
tiations. But I do deeply realize that the rebel chiefs achieved a most 
decided advantage in proposing or pretending to propose to have A. II. 
Stephens visit Washington as a peacemaker, and being rudely repulsed; 
and I am anxious that the ground lost to the national cause by that mis- 
take shall somehow be regained in season for effect on the approaching 
North Carolina election. I will see if I can get a look into the hand of 
whomsoever may be at Niagara; though that is a project so manifestly 
hopeless that I have little heart for it, still I shall try. 

Meantime I wish you would consider the propriety of somehow ap- 
prising the people of the South, especially those of North Carolina, that 
no overture or advance looking to peace and reunion has ever been re- 
pelled by you, but that such a one would at any time have been cordially 
received and favorably regarded, and would still be. 

Tours, Horace Greeley. 

Hon. A. Lincoln. 

This letter failed to reach the President until after the 
following one was received, and was never, therefore, 
specifically answered. 

Three days after the above letter, Mr. Greeley, having 
received additional information from some quarter, wrote 
to the President again as follows : — 

Office of tiis Teibune, New York, July 13, 1SG4. 

My Dear Sir: — I have now information on which I can rely that two 
persons duly commissioned and empowered to negotiate for peace are at 
this moment not far from Niagara Falls, in Canada, and are desirous of 
conferring with yourself, or with such persons as you may appoint and 
empower to treat with them. Their names (only given in confidence) are 
Hon. Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, and Hon. Jacob Thompson, of Missis- 
sippi. If you should prefer to meet them in person, they require safe-con 
ducts for themselves, and for George N. Sanders, who will accompany 
them. Should you choose to empower one or more persons to treat with 
them in Canada, they will of course need no safe-conduct; but they can- 
not be expected to exhibit credentials save to commissioners empowered 
as they are. In negotiating directly with yourself, all grounds of ca> i! 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 575 

would be avoided, and you -would be enabled at all times to act upon tbo 
freshest advices of the military situation. You will of course understand 
that I know nothing and have proposed nothing as to terms, and that 
nothing is conceded or taken for granted by the meeting of persons em- 
powered to negotiate for peace. All that is assumed is a mutual desire 
to terminate this wholesale slaughter, if a basis of adjustment can be mu- 
tually agreed on, and it seems to me high time that an effort to this end 
should be made. I am of course quite other than sanguine that a peace 
can now be made, but I am quite sure that a frank, earnest, anxious 
'effort to terminate the war on honorable terms would immensely 
strengthen the Government in case of its failure, and would help us in tho 
eyes of the civilized world, which now accuses us of obstinacy, and indis- 
position even to seek a peaceful solution of our sanguinary, devastating 
conflict. Hoping to hear that you have resolved to act in the premises, 
and to act so promptly that a good influence may even yet be exerted on 
the North Carolina election hext month, 

I remain yours, Horace Greeley. 

Hon. A. Lincoln-, Washington. 

On the 12th, tlie day before the foregoing letter was 
sent, Mr. George N. Sanders had written to Mr. Greeley 
as follows : — 

Clifton House, Niagara. Falls, ) 
Canada West, July 12, 1864. J 

Dear Sir : — I am authorized to say that Honorable Clement C. Clay, 
of Alabama, Professor James P. Holcombe, of Virginia, and George N". 
Sanders, of Dixie, are ready and willing to go at once to Washington-, 
upon complete and unqualified protection being given either by the Presi- 
dent or Secretary of War. Let the permission include the three names 
and one other. Very respectfully, George 1ST. Sanders. 

To Hon. Horace Greeley. 

This letter of Mr. Sanders does not seem to have "been 
communicated to the President, but on the receipt of Mr. 
Greeley's letter of the 13th, he immediately answered it 
by the following telegram : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, July 15, 1SG4. 

Hon. Horace Greeley, New York: — I suppose you received my letter 
of the 9th. I have just received yours of the 13th, and am disappointed 
by it. I was not expecting you to send me a letter, but to bring me a 
man, or men. Mr. Hay goes to you with my answer to yours of the 13th. 

A. Lincoln. 

The answer which Major Hay carried was as follows : — 



576 The Life, Public Services, and 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, Jalj 15, ISOi 

lion. Horace Greeley: 

My Dear Sir:— Yours of the 13th is just received, and I am disap- 
pointed that you have not already, reached here with those commission- 
ers. It' they would consent to come, on being shown my letter to you of 
the 9th instant, show that and this to them, and if they will come on tlio 
terms stated in the former, bring them. I not only intend a sincere effort 
for peace, but I intend that you shall be a personal witness that it is 
made. Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 

When Major Hay arrived at New York, lie delivered 
to Mr. Greeley tins letter from the President, and tele- 
graphed its result to the President as follows : — 

United States Mtlitart Telegraph, { 

¥ab Department, New Yoi;k, 9 a. m., July 16, 1&64 I 

His Excellency A. Lincoln, 

President of the United States: 
Arrived this morning at 6 a. m., and delivered your letter few minutes 
after. Although he thinks some one less known would create less ex- 
citement and be less embarrassed by public curiosity, still he "will start 
immediately if he can have an absolute safe-conduct for four persons to 
be named by him. Your letter he does not think will guard them from 
arrest, and with only those letters he would have to explain the whole 
matter to any officer who might choose to hinder them. If this meets 
with your approbation, I can write the order in your name as A. A.-G., 
or you cau send it by mail. Please answer me at Astor House. 

John Hay, A. A.-G. 

The President at once answered by telegraph as fol 
lows : — 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, July 16, 1S6L 

John Hay, Astor House, New York : 

Yours received. Write the safe-conduct as you propose, without wait- 
ing for one by mail from me. If there is or is not any thing in the affair, 
I wish to know it without unnecessary delay. A. Lincoln. 

Major Hay accordingly wrote the following safe-conduct, 
armed with which Mr. Greeley betook himself at once to 
Niagara Palls : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, D..O, 

Tho President of the United States directs that the four persons whose 
names follow, to wit: 

Hon. Clement 0. Clay, 
Hon. Jacob Thompson, 
Prof. James B. Holoombe, 
George N. Sanders, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 577 

shall have safe-conduct to the City of Washington in company with the 
Hon. Horace Greeley, and shall be exempt from arrest or annoyanco of 
any kind from any officer of the United States during their journey to tho 
said City of Washington. 

By order of the President : 

Jonx Eat, Major and A. A.-G. 

On his arrival, Mr. Greeley sent "by the hands of Mr. 
Jewett the following letter : — 

Niagara Falls, N. T., July 17, 1S64, 

Gentlemen: — I am informed that you are duly accredited from Rich- 
mond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace ; 
that you desire to visit Washington in the fulfilment of your mission ; and 
that you further desire that Mr. George N. Sanders shall accompany you. 
If my information be thus far substantially correct, I am authorized by 
the President of the United States to tender you his safe-conduct on the 
journey proposed, and to accompany you at the earliest time that will be 
agreeable to you. I have the honor to be, gentlemen, 

Yours, Horace Greeley. 

To Messrs. Clement C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, James P. Holoomee, 
Clifton House, C. W. 

To this letter the following reply was returned : — 

CLIFTON U.OUSE; NIAGARA Falls, July IS, 1564. 

Sir: — We have the honor to acknowledge your favor of the 17th hist., 

which would have been answered on yesterday, but for the absence of 

Mr. Clay. The safe-conduct of the President of the United States has 

been tendered us, we regret to state, under some misapprehension of facts. 

» 
We have not been accredited to him from Richmond, as the bearers of 

propositions looking to the establishment of peace. We are, however, 
in the confidential employment of our Government, and are entirely 
familiar with its wishes and opinions on that subject; and we feel author- 
ized to declare, that if the circumstances disclosed in this correspondence 
were communicated to Richmond, we would be at once invested with 
the authority to which your letter refers, or other gentlemen, clothed 
with full powers, would be immediately sent to Washington with a view 
of hastening a consummation so much to be desired, and terminating at 
the earliest possible moment the calamities of the war. We respectfully 
solicit, through your intervention, a safe-conduct to Washington, and 
thence by any route which may be designated through your lines to 
Richmond. We would be gratified if Mr. George Sanders was embraced 
in this privilege. Permit us, in conclusion, to acknowledge our obliga- 
tions to you for the interest you have manifested in the furtherance of 
37 



57S The Life, Public Services, and 

our •wishes, and to express the hope that, in any event, you will afford us 
the opportunity of tendering them in person before you leave the Falls. 
We remain, very respectfully, &c, 

C. C. Clay, Jr. 

J. P. HoLCOMBE. 

P. S. — It is proper to state that Mr. Thompson is not here, and has 
not been staying with us since our sojourn in Canada. 

Mr. Greeley thereupon wrote as follows : — 

International Hotel, Niaoaka Falls, N. Y., July IS, 1SG4. 

Gentlemen : — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours 
of this date by the hand of Mr. W. 0. Jewett. The state of facts therein 
presented being materially different from that which was understood to 
exi*t by the President when he intrusted me with the safe-conduct re- 
quired, it seems to me on every account advisable that I should commu- 
nicate with him by telegraph, and solicit fresh instructions, which I shall 
at once proceed to do. 

I hope to be able to transmit the result this afternoon, and at all events 
I shall do so at the earliest moment. 

Yours truly, Horace Greeley. 

To Messrs. Clement C. Clay and James P. LTolcombe, Clifton House, 
C. W. 

This letter was thus acknowledged : — 

Clifton IIousb, Niagara Falls, July IS, 1864. 

To Hon. n. Greeley, Niagara Falls, N. Y. : 

Sir : — We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of 
this date by the hands of Colonel Jewett, and will await the further 
answer which you propose to send \jj 'is. 

We are, very respectfully, &c, 
(Signed) C. C. Clay, Jr. 

James P. Holcombe. 

Mr. Greeley accordingly sent the following telegram at 
once to the President at Washington : — 

Independent Teleohaph Line, Niagara Falls, July IS, 1S64. 

Hon. Abraham Lincoln, President : 

I have communicated with the gentlemen in question, and do net find 
them so empowered as I was previously assured. They say that "we 
are, however, in the confidential employment of our Government, and 
entirely familiar with its wishes and opinions on that subject, and we feel 
authorized to declare that, if the circumstances disclosed in this correspond- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 579 

ence were communicated to Richmond, we would at once be invested with 
the authority to which your letter refers, or other gentlemen clothed with 
full power would immediately be sent to "Washington with a view of 
hastening a consummation so much to be desired, and terminating at the 
earliest possible moment the calamities of war. We respectfully solicit, 
through your intervention, a safe-conduct to "Washington, and thence by 
any route which may be designated to Richmond." Such is the more 
material portion of the gentlemen's letter. I will transmit the entire 
correspondence, if desired. Awaiting your further instructions, 

I remain yours, IIoeace Greeley. 

The President, on receiving this telegram, immediately 
dispatched Major Hay to Niagara with a further commu- 
nication, and telegraphed to Mr. Greeley that he had 
done so, whereupon the latter sent across the river the 
following letter : — 

International IIotel, Niagara Falls, New York, July 19, 1SG4, 

Gextlemex: — At a late hour last evening (too late for communication 
with you) I received a dispatch informing me that further instructions 
left Washington last evening, which must reach me, if there be no inter- 
ruption, at noon to-morrow. Should you decide to await their arrival, I 
feel confident that they will enable me to answer definitely your note of 
yesterday morning. Regretting a delay which I am sure you will regard 
as unavoidable on my part, 

I remain yours truly, Horace Greeley. 

To Hon. Messrs. 0. 0. Clay, Jr., and J. P. Holcombe, Clifton House, 
C. W. 

He received the following acknowledgment : — 

Clifton House, Niagara Falls, July 19, 1864. 
Sir : — Colonel Jewett has just handed us your note of this date, in 
which you state that further instructions from Washington will reach 
you by noon to-morrow, if there be no interruption. One, or possibly 
both of us, may be obliged to leave the Falls to-day, but will return in 
time to receive the communication which you promise to-morrow. 
We remain truly yours, &c, 

James P. Holoombe. 
C. C. Clay, Ju. 
To the Hon. Horace Greeley, now at the International Hotel. 

The further instructions from the President, sent by the 
hands of Major Hay, were as follows : — 



580 The Life, Public Services, and 

Executive Mansion, Washington, July IS, 1S&1 
To wnon IT MAT concern : 

Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity 

of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes 

by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war ag.-inst 

the United States, will be received and considered by the Executivo 

Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on 

substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall 

have safe conduct both ways. 

(Signed) Abraham Lincoln. 

Major Hay arrived at Niagara on the 20th of July, and 
went with Mr. Greeley across to the Clifton Honse, where 
he delivered to Professor Holcombe the aboye paper, in 
the President's own handwriting. The interview was a 
"brief one, and on separating, Mr. Greeley returned to 
New York, leaving Major Hay to receive their answer, 
if there should be one. 

Their reply was, however, sent to Mr. Greeley by the 
hands of Mr. Jewett. It was as follows : — 

Niagara Falls, Clifton House, July 21. 

To Hon. LTorace Greeley : 

Sir: — The paper handed to Mr. Holcombe on yesterday, in your pres- 
ence, by Major Hay, A. A.-G., as an answer to the application in our note 
of the 18th inst., is couched in the following terms: — 

Executive Mansion, "Washington, D. C, July 13,1861. 
To wnoM IT mat concern: 

Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity 
of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes 
by and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against 
the United States, will be received and considered by the Executive 
Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms on 
other substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers therof 
shall have safe-conduct both ways. Abraham Lincoln. 

The application to which we refer was elicited by your letter of the 
17th inst., in which you inform Mr. Jacob Thompson and ourselves, that 
you were authorized by the President of the United States to tender us his 
safe-conduct on the hypothesis that wo were "duly accredited from Rich- 
mond, as bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of 
peace," and desired a visit to Washington in the fulfilment of this mis- 
sion. This assertion, to which we then gave, and still do, entire credence, 
was accepted by us as the evidence of an unexpected but most gratifying 
change in the policy of the President— a change which we felt authorized 
to hope might terminate in the conclusion of a peace, mutually just, honor- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 581 

I 

able, and advantageous to the North and to the South, exacting no con- 
dition, but that we should be " duly accredited from Richmond as bearers 
of propositions looking to the establishment of peace," thus proffering a 
basis for conference as comprehensive as we could desire. It seemed to 
us that the President opened a door, which had previously been closed 
against the Confederate States for a full interchange of sentiments, free 
discussion of conflicting opinions, and untrammelled effort to remove all 
causes of controversy by liberal negotiations. We indeed could not claim 
the benefit of a safe-conduct which had been extended to us in a charac- 
ter we had no right to assume, and bad never affected to possess; but the 
uniform declaration of our Executive and Congress, and their thrice re- 
peated and as often repulsed attempts to open negotiations, furnish a 
sufficient pledge to assure us that this conciliatory manifestation on tbo 
part of the President of the United States would be met by them in a 
temper of equal magnanimity. We had therefore no hesitation in de- 
claring that if this correspondence was communicated to the President 
of the Confederate States, he would promptly embrace the opportunity 
presented for seeking a peaceful solution of this unhappy strife. We feel 
confident that you must share our profound regret that the spirit which 
dictated the first step towards peace had not continued to animate the 
counsels of your President. 

Had the representatives of the two Governments met to consider this 
question, the most momentous ever submitted to human statesmanship, in 
a temper of becoming moderation and equity, followed as their delibera- 
tions would have been by the prayers and benedictions of every patriot 
and Christian on the habitable globe, who is there so bold as to pronounco 
that the frightful waste of individual happiness and public prosperity, 
which is daily saddening the universal heart, might not have been termi- 
nated, or if the desolation and carnage of war must still be endured 
through weary years of blood and suffering, that there might not at least 
have heen infused into its conduct something more of the spirit which 
softens and partially redeems its brutalities? Instead of the safe-conduct 
which we solicited, and which your first letter gave us every reason to 
suppose would be extended for the purpose of initiating a negotiation in 
which neither Government would compromise its rights or its dignity, a 
document lias been presented which provokes as much indignation as sur- 
prise. It bears no feature of resemblance to that which was originally 
offered, and is unlike any paper which ever before emanated from the con- 
stitutional Executive of a free people. Addressed "to whom it may con- 
cern,' 1 it precludes negotiation, and prescribes in advance the terms and 
conditions of peace. It returns to the original policy of "no bargaining, 
no negotiations, no truces with rebels, except to bury their dead, until every 
man shall have laid down his arms, submitted to the Government, and sued 
for mercy." What may be the explanation of this sudden and entiro 
change in the views of the President, of this rude withdrawal of a cour- 
teous overture for negotiation at the moment it was likely to be accepted. 



582 The Life, Public Services, and 

of this emphatic recall of words of peace just uttered, and fresh blasts of 
war to the bitter end, we leave for the speculation of those who have the 
means or inclination to penetrate the mysteries of his cabinet, or fathom 
the caprice of his imperial will. It is enough for us to say that we havo 
no use whatever for the paper which has been placed in our hands. We 
could not transmit it to the President of the Confederate States without 
offering him an indignity, dishonoring ourselves, and incurring the well- 
merited scorn of our countrymen. 

"Whilst an ardent desire for peace pervades the people of the Confeder- 
ate States, we rejoice to believe that there are few, if any, among them, 
who would purchase it at the expense of liberty, honor, and self-respect. 
If it can be secured only by their submission to terms of conquest, the 
generation is yet unborn which will witness its restitution. If there be 
I any military autocrat in the North, who is entitled to proffer the condi- 
tions of this manifesto, there is none in the South authorized to entertain 
ithem. Those who control our armies are the servants of the people, not 
'their masters, and they have no more inclination than they have right to 
■subvert the social institutions of the sovereign States, to overthrow their 
established constitutions, and to barter away their priceless heritage of 
self-government. 

This correspondence will not, however, we trust, prove wholly barren 
of good results. 

If there is any citizen of the Confederate States who has clung to a 
hope that peace was possible with this Administration of the Federal Gov- 
ernment, it will strip from his eyes the last film of such a delusion ; or if 
there be any whose hearts have grown faint under the suffering and agony 
of this bloody struggle, it will inspire them with fresh energy to endure 
and brave whatever may yet be requisite to preserve to themselves and 
their children all that gives dignity and value to life, or hope and conso- 
lation to death. And if there be any patriots or Christians in your land, 
who shrink appalled from the illimitable vista of private misery and 
public calamity which stretches before them, we pray that in their bosoms 
a resolution may be quickened to recall the abused authority and vin- 
dicate the outraged civilization of their country. For the solicitude you 
have manifested to inaugurate a movement which contemplates results the 
most noble and humane, we return our sincere thanks, and are most 
respectfully and truly 

Your obedient servants, 

C. C. Clay, Jr. 
James P. Holcombs. 

The letter to Mr. Jewett in which it was enclosed was 
as follows : — 

Clifton IIouse, Niagara Falls, July 20, 1S64. 
Col. W. C. Jewett, Cataract House, Niagara Falls : 

We are in receipt of your note admonishing us of the departure of Hon. 
Horace Greeley from the Falls, that he regrets the sad termination of tho 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 5S3 

initiatory steps taken for peace, in consequence of the change made by 
the President in his instructions to convey commissioners to Washington 
for negotiations, unconditionally, and that Mr. Greeley will be pleased to 
receive any answer we may have to make through you. We avail our- 
selves of this offer to enclose a letter to Mr. Greeley, which you will oblige 
us by delivering. We cannot take leave of you without expressing our 
thanks for your courtesy and kind offices as the intermediary through 
whom our correspondence with Mr. Greeley has been conducted, and as- 
suring you that we are, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servants, I 

C. 0. Clay, Jr. 

James P. Holcombe. 

Mr. Greeley, before his departure, gave the following 
certificate to Mr. Jewett : — 

International Hotel, Niagara Fali.8, July 20, 1SG4. 

In leaving the Falls, I feel bound to state that I have had no intercourse 
with the Confederate gentlemen at the Clifton House, but such as I was 
fully authorized to hold by the President of the United States, and that I 
have done nothing in the premises but in fulfilment of his injunction's. 
The notes, tLerefore, which you have interchanged between those gentle- 
men and myself, can in no case subject you to the imputation of unauthor- 
ized dealing with public enemies Hoeace Geeelet. 

To W. C. Jewett, Esq. 



In their note of July 20, to Mr. Jewett, enclosing their 
final letter to Mr. Greeley, the rebel emissaries acknowl- 
edge the assurance, received from Mr. Jewett, that Mr. 
Greeley "regrets the sad termination of the initiatory 
steps taken for peace, in consequence of the change made 
by the President in his instructions to convey commis- 
sioners to Washington for negotiations unconditionally." 
The Commissioners must have misunderstood Mr. Jewett, 
or Mr. Jewett must have misrepresented Mr. Greeley, in 
this report of the ground of his "regrets," or else Mr. 
Greeley must have taken a position quite at variance with 
the facts of the case. Mr. Greeley could scarcely have 
believed that the President had "changed his instruc- 
tions" in the least degree ; and he must have known that 
the result of the attempted negotiation was due to a wholly 
different cause. 

The first response made by the President to Mr. Greeley's 



584 The Life, Public Services, and 

urgent entreaty that peace commissioners should be re- 
ceived, was dated July 9, and said :— 

" If you can find any person professing to Lave any proposition of 
Jeffers-oa Davis, in writing, for peace, embracing the restoration, of tho 
Unisn, and abandonment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to 
him that he may come to me." 

At the very outset, therefore, the President distinctly 
specified the conditions on which he would receive the 
pretended commissioners : — they must bring written prop- 
ositions for peace from Davis, and those propositions 
must embrace two of the things which Mr. Greeley himself 
had suggested, — the restoration of the Union, and the aban 
donment of slavery. So far as appears, Mr. Greeley 
neither showed this letter of the President to the pretended 
agents of the Rebel Government, nor did he inform them 
in any way of the conditions on which alone they would 
be received. But in his letters of July 10th and 13th, to 
the President, without making any reference to these con- 
ditions, he reiterates his pressing entreaty that the negotia- 
tions may be encouraged, and that the rebel agents may 
be received at Washington. To this the President replied, 
expressing his disappointment that the commissioners had 
not already arrived, and saying, 

" If they would consent to come, on being shown my letter to you bf 
the 9th inst. [in which the conditions of their coming were distinctly 
stated], sliow that and this to them, and if they will come on the terms 
stated in the former, bring them." 

Notwithstanding these explicit and peremptory instruc- 
tions, it does not appear that Mr. Greeley gave the rebel 
agents any information whatever as to the "terms" of 
their being received, nor did he show them either of 
the President's two letters in which these terms were 
stated. But he proceeded to make arrangements for their 
visit to Washington, and went to Niagara Falls to bear 
them company. There he addressed them a letter on the 
17th of July, saying that, if it was true, as he had been in- 
formed, that they were ' ' duly accredited from Richmond as 
the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment 
of peace,. and in the fulfilment of their mission," he was 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 585 

li authorized by the President of the United States to tender 
them his safe-conduct on the journey proposed." Mr. Gree- 
ley was not authorized to tender these agents a safe-conduct 
to Washington upon any such terms, but only on certain 
other conditions which he concealed from the agents, and 
of which he took no notice whatever, either in his corre- 
spondence with them or with the President. Their reply 
to him, however, corrected his impression that they were 
" duly accredited " from Richmond to negotiate for peace. 
They had no authority of the kind, but expressed their 
belief that they could get it, and, upon this presumption, 
renewed their solicitations for a safe-conduct to Washing- 
ton. On the ISth, Mr. Greelej r wrote to the President- 
communicating this information, but still making no allu- 
sion whatever to the conditions imposed upon their being 
received. 

The President, meantime, not understanding the cause 
of delay in their arrival, sent Major Hay, his private sec- 
retary, to communicate directly with "any persons" pro- 
fessing to have authority from Davis to treat for peace, 
and to inform them, as he had twice before instructed 
Mr. Greeley to inform them, that any proposition for 
peace, in order to be received and considered by him, 
must embrace "the restoration of peace, the integrity of 
the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery." 
These instructions were embodied in the letter addressed 
"to whom it may concern" — and were delivered by 
Major Hay in person to the rebel agents. As it was the 
first they had ever heard of any "conditions," and as 
they had been informed by Mr. Greeley that he was in- 
structed by the President to tender them safe-conduct to 
Washington, without any mention of conditions — they 
were of course taken by surprise, and naturally enough 
attributed to the President the " sudden and entire 
change of viejvs" with which they reproach him in their 
letter to Mr. Greeley of July 21st. And strangely enough, 
even after receiving this letter and being thus apprised 
of the charge brought against the President, Mr. Greeley 
ot only failed to relieve him from it by making public 



5SG The Life, Public Services, axd 

the facts, but joined in ascribing to Mr. Lincoln the fail- 
ure of negotiations for peace and the consequent prolon- 
gation of the war. And, according to Mr. Jewett's state- 
ment, Mr. Greeley also authorized him to express to the 
rebel commissioners his regrets, that the negotiation 
should have failed in consequence of the President's 
"change of views." 

, It is not easy now, any more than it was then, to 
reconcile Mr. Greeley's action in this matter with fidelity 
to the Union cause, or with good faith to the Administra- 
tion, by which alone that cause was maintained. The 
Opposition press made Mr. Lincoln's alleged tergiversa- 
tion the ground of fresh and vehement attack, while it 
was used throughout the rebel States as fresh proof of 
the faithless character of the Federal Government, and 
of the absolute impossibility of making peace except by 
successful war. The commissioners themselves made a 
very adroit use of the advantage which Mr. Greeley's 
extraordinary course had placed in their hands, and, in 
their letter of July 21st, addressed to him, but intended 
to be a public impeachment of President Lincoln's honor 
and good faith, made a powerful and effective appeal to 
the indignant pride of the Southern people and the sym- 
pathy of their friends in the Northern States. 

The President felt very sensibly the injustice done to 
himself, and the injury done the country, by Mr. Greeley's 
suppression of these most essential facts, in his intercourse 
with the rebel commissioners. As the only mode of 
placing the whole subject properly before the people, 
he applied to Mr. Greeley for permission to publish the 
whole correspondence — omitting only certain passages 
not at all essential to a full understanding of the subject, 
and likely seriously to injure the Union cause by infusing 
into the public mind something of the despondency, 
which Mr. Greeley himself felt and openly avowed, con- 
cerning the prospects of the country. The words which 
Mr. Lincoln desired to have omitted, in the publication 
of the correspondence, were the following. In the letter 
of July 7 : — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 5S7 

In the second paragraph : the words " and therefore 1 venture to re- 
mind yon that our bleeding, bankrupt, almost dying country also long3 
for peace, shudders at the prospect of fresh conscriptions, of further 
wholesale devastations, and of new rivers of human blood, and:' 1 — also 
the words "now, and is morally certain, unless removed, to do far 
greater in the approaching elections.'" 

In the fourth paragraph, the words "If only with a view to the mo- 
mentous election soon to occur in North Carolina and of the draft to be 
enforced in the Free States, this should be done." 

In the last paragraph, the words "It may save us from a Northern in- 
surrection." 

In the letter of July 10th, second paragraph, the words "in season 
for effect on the approaching North Carolina election ;" and in the last 
paragraph, the words " especially those of North Carolina." 

And in the letter of July 13th, last paragraph, the words "that a good 
influence may even yet be exerted on the North Carolina election next 
month." 

Mr. Greeley declined to give his assent to the publica- 
tion of the correspondence, unless these phrases should be 
published also. The President accordingly submitted in 
silence to the injustice which had been done him, and com- 
mitted the whole subject, in the following letter, to the judg- 
ment of a personal and political friend : — 

ExaocTiTB Mansion, Washington August 15, 1SG-V. 

Hon. ITexry J. Raymond : 

Mr Deak Sin: — I have proposed to Mr. Greeley that the Niagara cor- 
respondence be published, suppressing only the parts of his letters over 
which the red-pencil is drawn in the copy which I herewith send. He 
declines giving his consent to the publication of his letters unless these 
parts be published with the rest. I have concluded that it is better for 
me to submit, for the time, to the consequences of the false position in 
which I consider he has placed me, than to subject the country to the 
consequences of publishing these discouraging and injurious parts. I 
send you this, and the accompanying copy, not for publication, but merely 
to explain to you, and that you may preserve them until their proper 
time shall come. Yours truly, Abraham Lincoln. 

This public statement of the facts of this case is deemed 
"by the author due to the memory of Mr. Lincoln. He 
lias "been widely censured for entering into communica- 
tion w r ith rebel agents at all ; — but this correspondence 
shows that Mr. Greeley's assurances, and his pressing en- 
treaties, had made it necessary for him, either to open the way 



500 The Life, Public Services, and 

for peace negotiations or reject the opportunity, which one 
of the most influential leaders of his own party thus assured 
him was offered, for an honorable termination of the war. 
He was charged with having finally insisted upon certain 
concessions as the basis of an interview, after having first 
promised it unconditionally ; but this correspondence 
shows that these conditions were distinctly stated at the 
very outset, but were withheld by Mr. Greeley from the 
knowledge of the rebel commissioners. It is due to jus- 
tice, as well as to Mr. Lincoln, that impressions so injurious 
and so false should no longer prevail. 

The effect of this attempt at negotiation upon the public 
mind was, for the moment, unfavorable to the Union cause. 
The people, responding heartily to the demand of the Bal- 
timore Platform, that no peace should be accepted by the 
Government on any terms short of an unconditional sur- 
render, were distrustful of negotiations which might look 
to some other issue. The charge of bad faith urged 
against the President stimulated the Opposition, and, in 
the absence of the facts, embarrassed his supporters ; while 
the fact that Mr. Lincoln insisted upon the abandonment 
of slavery as one of the conditions of peace, was cited by 
the opponents of his Administration as proof that the 
object of the war was changed, and that it was to be waged 
hereafter, not solely for the preservation of the Union, but 
for the emancipation of the slaves. In the absence of any 
opposing candidate, these and countless other charges were 
urged against the Administration with marked effect, and 
added very materially to the popular despondency which 
the lack of military success had naturally engendered. 

Eager to avail themselves to the utmost of this auspicious 
condition of political affairs, and embarrassed not a little 
"by discordant sentiments in their own ranks, the Demo- 
cratic party had postponed their National Convention for 
the nomination of a President from the 22d of June to the 
29th of August. But the delay from which they expected 
so much, in fact, betrayed them into a confidence which 
proved fatal to their hopes. Their expectations, however, 
were not without reason. The state of the public mind 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 591 

was favorable to the success of their plans. The as- 
saults upon the Administration had grown more viru- 
lent, and seemed to produce more effect. Many of its 
friends, who, when Mr. Lincoln was renominated, had 
considered the main work of the political campaign over, 
had grown gradually doubtful. The uncertainty as to 
the course which the Democratic party would pursue 
compelled them almost to inaction, at least so far as offen- 
sive warfare was concerned, while they were themselves 
exposed to every kind of attack. And when the time for 
the Chicago Convention came, its managers gathered to it 
with high hopes, believing that if they could only unite 
upon a candidate and a platform which should not vio- 
lently offend either wing of the partj^, their success was 
certain. The peace wing of the party, however, had been 
relatively strengthened in the interim. The delays and 
losses of the armies, the hope deferred to which the long 
and bloody struggles in Virginia and in Georgia had fa- 
miliarized but not inured the popular heart, the rise* in 
gold, the call for five hundred thousand more men — all 
these things had given them strength, and made them more 
vehement and more exacting. Their great champion, Mr. 
Vallandigham, had surreptitiously returned from Canada, 
in violation of the sentence which ordered his banishment 
from the lines during the war, and had remained in open 
defiance of the Government, whose failure to arrest and 
send him back, or otherwise to punish him, was treated 
then as an indication of weakness rather than of wisdom. 
He and his friends were active everywhere, and did not 
hesitate to declare that they must have a peace can- 
didate, or platform, one or both, at all hazards, and 
threatened to nominate a candidate of their own, if this 
course was not pursued. It cannot be doubted that the 
fatal course which was finally adopted by the Convention 
was largely due to the efforts of Mr. Vallandigham, and 
to the encouragement which his friends received from the 
apparent unwillingness of the Government to molest him 
on his return. 
The Convention met in Chicago on Monday, August 29. 



592 The Life, Public Services, and 

It was called to order "by August Belmont, of New York, 
the Chairman of the National Committee, on whose motion 
Ex-Governor Bigler, of Pennsylvania, was appointed 
temporary Chairman. The business transacted on the 
first day embraced the appointment of Committees on . 
Credentials, Organization, and Resolutions, of which latter 
committee Mr. Vallandigham was chosen chairman. 

On Tuesday the committees reported. There were no 
contested delegations except from Kentucky, and this 
question the committee settled by admitting both delega- 
tions and dividing the vote between them. Louisiana 
and the Territories had sent delegates, but these were at 
once excluded. Governor Horatio Seymour, of New York, 
was chosen President of the Convention, with twenty-one 
vice-presidents and secretaries. In the afternoon, the 
platform was reported. 

The second resolution, which embodied the spirit of 
the Convention, and shaped the succeeding canvass, was 
as follows : — 

Iiesohtd, That this Convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of 
the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union 
by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of military 
necessity or war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution 
itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private 
right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country 
essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare 
demand that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, with 
a view to an ultimate convention of the States or other peaceable means, 
to the end that, at the earliest practicable moment, peace may be restored 
on the basis of the Federal Union of tho States. 

The other resolutions assailed the Administration for 
its military interference in elections, its arbitrary arrests, 
suppression of freedom of speech and of the press, denial 
of the right of asylum, imposing test-oaths, taking away 
arms from the people (as had been done where there was 
danger of armed insurrection on the part of local asso- 
ciations), and disregard of duty towards our soldiers who 
were prisoners of war; and they extended " the sym- 
pathy of the Democratic party" to the soldiers and tho 
sailors. 



State Papers oe Abraham Lincoln. 593 

Mr. Long, of Ohio, who, as will be recollected, had been 
publicly censured by Congress for a speech bordering 
upon treason, endeavored to amend the resolutions so as 
to "place the Convention in a position favoring peace 
beyond the mistakes of any equivocal language." Under 
the working of the previous question, however, Mr. Long 
was silenced, and the resolutions were adopted with but 
four dissenting votes. 

The Convention then proceeded to the nomination of 
a candidate for President The nomination of General 
McClellan was the signal for a fierce attack upon him by 
some of the ultra peace men, but he was vigorously 
defended, and the debate lasted till darkness compelled 
an adjournment. The vote was taken as soon as the 
Convention met in the morning, and General McClellan 
received one hundred and sixty-two votes out of two 
hundred and twenty-eight, and this number was increased 
to two hundred and two and a half before the ballot 
was announced ; the rest having been cast for Thomas 
H. Seymour, of Connecticut. 

For Vice-President, the Convention nominated George 
H. Pendleton, of Ohio, whose position was unqualifiedly 
among the ultra peace men. 

Mr. Wickliffe, of Kentucl^y, saying that "the delegates 
from the West were of the opinion that circumstances 
may occur between noon of to-day and the fourth of 
March next, which will make it proper for the Democracy 
of the country to meet in convention again," moved the 
following resolution : — 

Resolved, That this Convention shall not be dissolved by adjournment 
at the close of its business, but shall remain organized, subject to be called 
at any time and place that the Executive National Committee shall 
designate. 

This suggestive resolution was unanimously adopted, 
and the Convention then separated. 

The action of the Convention was eminently cheering 
to the friends of the Administration. It was more open 
.and honest than they had anticipated ; it avowed senti- 
ments which, though entertained, it was feared would be 

•68 



591 The Life, Public Services, and 

concealed. The whole tone of the Convention had 
been in opposition to the popular feeling on the Avar. 
The ultra peace men had been prominent in its delibera- 
tions. Vallandigham, Harris, Long, Pendleton, men who 
had done their utmost to help on the rebellion and 
hamper the Government, had been its ruling spirits. 
The tone of its speeches had been in entire sympathy 
with the rebels, for whom no words of reproof were 
uttered, while they were unmeasured in their denun- 
ciation of Mr. Lincoln and his Administration. The 
news of the fall of Fort Morgan had come, in upon them 
as they sat in conclave, but it won no cheers from that 
assembly for the success of the Old Flag and the leaf 
of imperishable renown which added to the full wreath 
of laurel, which already crowned our army and our 
navy. Its resolutions .had declared that the war was 
a failure, and called for an immediate cessation of hos- 
tilities ; while, as a striking commentary upon this decla- 
ration, the very day after the Convention adjourned 
brought the news of the fall of Atlanta and the glorious 
success of that grand march of Sherman's army which 
turned the tide of war, and contributed so largely to its 
final success. 

The Union party instantly and joyfully accepted the 
issue thus boldly tendered. They knew that, once fairly 
before the country, the result coidd not be doubtful. 
The people did not believe that the effort to maintain 
the Union hy force of arms had yet proved "a failure.'' 
They did not believe that the Union could be preserved 
by negotiation, and they were not in favor of a cessation 
of hostilities until victory should be secured. The issue 
had been fairly made between the two parties in their 
respective declarations at Baltimore and Chicago. The 
former demanded a vigorous prosecution of the war, and 
denounced all terms of peace short of an unconditional 
surrender of the rebels ; the latter demanded a suspension 
of hostilities and a resort to negotiation. 

The great body of the Democratic party throughout the 
country, sympathizing with the national sentiment, felt 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 595 

that they had "been placed in a false position by the action 
of their convention. An effort was made to stem the 
rising tide of public condemnation by General McClellan, 
their candidate for the Presidency, in his letter of accept- 
ance. He declared himself in favor of preserving the 
Union by a vigorous prosecution of the war, if all the 
"resources of statesmanship," which should be first em- 
ployed, should prove inadequate. The letter, however, 
was without effect. It did something to alienate the peace 
men who had controlled the Chicago Convention, but 
nothing to disturb the conviction of the people that the 
same men would control General McClellan also in the 
event of his election. 

The political campaign was thus fairly opened. The 
Fremont movement, which had but little strength from 
the start, now came to an inglorious end. Shortly before 
the meeting of the Chicago Convention, some friends of 
General Fremont, with some faint hope of compelling Mr. 
Lincoln to withdraw, had written to the General to know 
if he would withdraw from the canvass, provided Mr. 
Lincoln would do so. In reply, General Fremont, saying 
that he had no right to act independently of the men 
who nominated him, suggested that some understanding 
should be had between the supporters of the Baltimore 
and Cleveland Conventions, with a view to the convoca- 
tion of a third convention ; for, as he said, "a really pop- 
ular convention, upon a broad and liberal basis, so that 
it could be regarded as a convocation in mass of the 
people, and not the work of politicians, would command 
public confidence." The proposition, however, com- 
manded not the slightest attention ; and after the Demo- 
cratic nomination was made, the lines were drawn so 
closely that the pressure of public sentiment compelled 
the absolute withdrawal of General Fremont, which took 
place on the 21st of September. From that time forward 
the contest was between Mr. Lincoln, representing the 
sentiments of the Baltimore Platform on the one hand, 
and General McClellan, representing the sentiments of the 
r 'hicago Platform on the other. The lines were clearly 



596 The Life, Public Services, and 

drawn, and the canvass was prosecuted with earnestness, 
l)ut with less than the usual acrimony and intemperate 
zeal. It was felt to be a contest of principle, and was 
carried on with a gravity and decorum "befitting its im- 
portance. 

One of the incidents upon which great stress was laid 
by the Opposition in the canvass, arose out of some pro- 
ceedings in Tennessee, of which Andrew Johnson still 
remained military governor, with reference to the calling 
of a convention and holding an election in the State. 
Several efforts had "been made in that direction during the 
year. As early as January 26th, Governor Johnson had 
issued a proclamation, ordering an election for county 
officers, and in his proclamation had prescribed stringent 
qualifications for voters, and a stringent oath which every 
voter must take. Some of the judges of election thought, 
however, that it was enough to require of voters to take 
the oath of the President's amnesty proclamation. Ac- 
cordingly, one of them wrote to Washington on the sub- 
ject, as follows : — 

Nashville, February 20, 1SC4. 

Hon. W. II. Sewakd, Secretary of State, Washington, D. 0. : 

In county and State elections, must citizens of Tennessee take the oath 
prescribed by Governor Johnson, or will the President's oath of amnesty 
entitle them to vote? I have been appointed to hold the March election 
in Cheatham County, and wish to act understandmgly. 

Wap.rex Jokdan. 

The President himself answered by telegraph as fol- 
lows : — 

Washington, February 20, 1S64 
Wabeen Jokdan, Nashville: 

In county elections you had better stand by Governor Johnson's plan; 
otherwise you will have conflict and confusion. I have seen his plan. 

A. Lincoln. 

This election was held with but indifferent success. A 
convention was also held in May at Knoxville, but took 
no important action. But, in September, another con- 
x-ention was called together for the -purpose of reorgan- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 597 

izing the State and taking part in the approaching Presi- 
dential election. The convention met, and determined 
that the election should be held. They adopted an elec- 
toral ticket, and provided for ascertaining the qualifica- 
tions of voters. Among o^her things, they provided a 
stringent oath, to be administered to registers and officers 
holding the elections, and requested Governor Johnson 
to execute the resolutions which they had adopted "in 
such manner as he might think would best subserve the 
interests of the Government." 

Governor Johnson accordingly, on the 30th of Septem- 
ber, issued a proclamation, directing that the election be 
opened and held, and that at such election "all citizens 
and soldiers, being free white men, twenty-one j'ears of 
age, citizens of the United States, and for six months 
prior to the election citizens of the State of Tennessee, 
who have qualified themselves by registration, and who 
take the oath prescribed " by the convention, should be 
entitled to vote. The oath prescribed was as follows : — 

"I solemnly swear that I will henceforth support the Constitution of 
the United States, and defend it against the assaults of all enemies : that 
I am an active friend of the Government of the United States, and the 
enemy of the so-called Confederate States : that I ardently desire the sup- 
pression of the present rehellion against the Government of the United 
States: that I sincerely rejoice in the triumph of the armies and navies 
of the United States, and in the defeat and overthrow of the armies, 
navies, and of all armed combinations in the interest of the so-called Con- 
federate States: that I will cordially oppose all armistices and negotia- 
tions for peace with rebels in arms, until the Constitution of the United 
States, and all laws and proclamations made in pursuance thereof, shall 
be established over all the people of every State and Territory embraced 
within the National Union ; and that I will heartily aid and assist tho 
loyal people in whatever measures may be adopted for the attainment of 
these ends: and further, that I take this oath freely and voluntarily, and 
without mental reservation. So help me God." 

An electoral ticket in favor of General McClellan had 
previously been nominated by persons not in sympathy 
with the State Convention, nor with the National -Ad- 
ministration, and these gentlemen, on the appearance of 
this proclamation, drew up a protest, which they addressed 



698 The Life, Public Services, and • 

to the President. They protested against Governor John- 
son' s assuming to dictate the qualifications of voters, 
which they said were prescribed Toy the laws of Tennessee, 
a copy of which they annexed ; and they protested against 
the oath. 

This protest was presented 'to the President by Mr. J. 
Lellyet, one of the signers, who sent to a New York news- 
paper the following account of the interview : — 

"Washington, October 15. 

I called upon the President to-day, and presented and read to him the 
subjoined protest. Having concluded, Mr. Lincoln responded-: — 

"May I inquire how long it took you and the New York politicians to 
toncoct that paper ?" 

I replied, "It was concocted in Nashville, without cocaro^ni cation with 
any but Tennesseans. We communicated with citizens of Tennessee out- 
side of Nashville, but not with New York politicians." 

"I will answer," said Mr. Lincoln, emphatically, " that I expect to let 
the friends of George B. McClellan manage their side of this contest in 
their own way, and I will manage my side of it in my way." 

"May we ask an answer in writing?" I suggested. 

" Not now. Lay those papers down here. I will give no other answer 
now. I may or I may not write something about this hereafter. I un- 
derstand this. I know you intend to make a point of this. But go 
ahead, you have my answer." 

" Your answer then is that you expect to let General McClellan's friends 
manage their side of the contest in their own way, and you will manage 
your side of it in your way ?" 

"Yes." 

I then thanked the President for his courtesy in giving us a hearing at 
all, and then took my leave. * * * 

John Lellyet. 

The President, a few days after, however, sent them 
the following answer in writing : — 

Executiye Mansion, Washington, D. C, October 22, ISC-t 
Messrs. William B. Campbell, Tuomas A. P. Nelson, Jambs T. P. 

Carter, John Williams, A. Blizzard, Henry Cooper, Baillie 

Peyton, John Lellyet, Emerson Etdeeidge, and John D. Pep.ry • 

man: 

Gentlemen : — On the 15th day of this month, as I remember, a printed 
paper manuscript, with a few manuscript interlineations, called a protest, 
with your names appended thereto, and accompanied by another printed 
paper, purporting to be a proclamation by Andrew Johnson, Military 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. 509 

Governor of Tennessee, and also a manuscript paper, purporting to be 
extracts from the Code of Tennessee, were laid before me. 

The protest, proclamation, and extracts are respectively as folio ws: — 

[The protest is here recited, and also the proclamation of Governor 
Johnson, dated September 30, to which it refers, together with a list of 
the counties in East, Middle, and West Tennessee; also extracts from the 
Code of Tennessee in relation to electors of President and Vice-President, 
qualifications of voters for members of the General Assembly, places 
of-holding elections, and officers of popular elections.] 

At the time these papers were presented, as before stated, I had never 
seen either of them, nor heard of the subject to which they relate, except 
in a general way one day previously. 

Up to the present moment, nothing whatever upon the subject has 
passed between Governor Johnson, or any one else, connected with the 
proclamation, and myself. 

Since receiving the papers, as stated, I have given the subject such 
brief consideration as I have been able to do, in the ink. >t of so many 
pressing public duties. 

My conclusion is, that I can have nothing to do with the matter, either 
to sustain the plan as the convention and Governor Johnson have initiated 
it, or to revoke or modify it as you demand. 

By the Constitution and laws, the President is charged with no duty in 
the Presidential election in any State, nor do I in this case perceive any 
military reason for his interference in the matter. 

The movement set on foot by the convention and Governor Johnson 
does not, as seems to be assumed by you, emanate from the National 
Executive. 

In no 'proper sense can it be considered other than an independent 
movement of, at least, a portion of the loyal people of Tennessee. 

I do not perceive in the plan any menace, or violence, or coercion towards 
any one. 

Governor Johnson, like any other loyal citizen of Tennessee, has the 
right to favor any political plan he chooses, and, as military governor, it 
is his duty to keep the peace among and for the loyal people of the State. 

I cannot discern that by this plan he purposes any more. But you ob- 
ject to the plan. 

Leaving it alone will be your perfect security against it. It is not pro- 
posed to force you into it. 

Do as you please, on your own account, peaceably and loyally, and Gov- 
ernor Johnson will not molest you, but will protect you against violence 
as far as in his power. 

I presume that the conducting of a Presidential election in Tennessee in 
strict accordance with the old code of the State, is not now a possibility. 

It is scarcely necessary to add, that if any election shall be held and 
any votes shall be cast in the State of Tennessee for President and Vice- 



600 The Life, Public Services, and 

President of the United States, it will not belong to the military agents, 
nor yet to the Executive Department, but exclusively to another depart- 
ment of the Government, to determine whether they are entitled to be 
counted in conformity with the Constitution and laws of the United 
States. 

Except it be to give protection against violence, I decline to interfere in 
any way with any Presidential election. 

Abraham Lincoln. 

The signers of the protest thereupon declared the Mc 
Clellan electoral ticket withdrawn. And this incident 
was made the basis of fresh attacks upon the President 
for interfering in the election. 

Like all other persons in similar position, Mr. Lincoln 
was subjected to assaults upon his personal character and 
conduct. One of these charges was, that while all other 
public ere iitors drew their compensation in paper money, 
his salary was paid in gold. The charge is important, 
now, only because it led to the publication of the follow- 
ing letter from the Treasurer of the United States : — 

United States Treasury, Washington - , October 13. 
My Dear Sir : — Since the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, I 
have found the article spoken of by you, and which, although I am told it 
has gone the rounds of the Democratic press, I have not before seen. It 
is in the words following : — 

"Jeff. Davis's salary is nominally twenty-five thousand a year, but by 
the depreciation of the Confederate money is equal to about fifteen hundred 
dollars, and on this practically he has to live. Abraham Lincoln's salary 
is legally twenty-five thousand dollars a year. But his legal-tender money, 
having depreciated to less than half its nominal value, he refuses to take, 
and demands and receives his pay in gold or gold certificates, while the 
soldiers of his army have to take their pay in greenbacks. Isn't this pa- 
triotic and honest in Old Abe, and ought not he to be re-elected to another 
four years' hard money for himself, and of largely depreciated money for 
the people?" 

Now, this story is perhaps as true as other slanders that have been 
heaped upon the head of Mr. Lincoln by his malignant Copperhead and 
traitor enemies, North and South. The facts in the case, however, are 
entirely at variance with, and the very reverse of, the statements made in 
the article quoted. The salary of the President is, in accordance with law, 
paid in warrant drafts on the Treasury of the United States for the amount, 
leis the income tax, which have been sent him regularly monthly. Instead 
of drawing his money on these drafts, he has been in the habit of leaving 



State Papers op Abraham Lincoln. 001 

it for a long time without interest. In one case all hi« salary so remained 
for eleven months. On several occasions I solicited the President to draw 
what was due him, urging that he was losing largely in interest on tha 
amount due him. He asked me, "Who gains my loss?" On my an- 
swering, " The United States," he replied, "Then as it goes for the good 
of the country, let it remain. The Treasury needs it more than I do." 
Having at length satisfied the President that it was necessary to the clo- 
sing of my annual accounts that the drafts on the Treasury that lie held 
should he presented and paid, he indorsed and handed them to me. I drew 
the amount in United States notes, and placed it to his credit as a temporary 
loan at five per cent, per annum, payable, principal and interest, in green- 
backs. Since then his salary has been from time to time mostly invested in 
the stocks of the United States, purchased at current rates by his friends 
for him. The interest of these stocks is payable in coin. When this in- 
terest became due, I tried to induce him to draw it. Failing in doing so, 
the amount due him was sent by Honorable John 0. UnderwoodJMudge 
of the United States Court for the District of Virginia. The result of his 
interview with the President is best told in the letter of Judge Underwood 
to me, which is herewith enclosed to you. I have caused an investigation 
to be made of the transactions of the President with the receipt of his 
salary, and the investment of the sums in United States stocks, and enclose 
you herewith the letter of Leroy Tuttle, Esq., the Assistant Cashier, from 
which it appears that Mr. Lincoln, from his forbearance in collecting his 
dues, has lost at least four thousand dollars, and which he has virtually 
given to the people of the United States. I have great doubts as to the pro- 
priety of answering this foul falsehood, well knowing that others perhaps 
even grosser will be made, so as to keep the Union party on the defensive, 
and thus preventing the loyal men of the country from attacking the peace- 
at-any-price Democracy for their damning heresies and treasonable prac- 
tices. You, howevei - , ask me to make the statement and to put it in an 
official form. I have therefore done so, and I authorize you to use it 
and the accompanying letters, or any part of either, in any way that 
may seem best calculated to place the President and his calumniators in 
thoir true light and positions before the American people. 
"Very respectfully yours, 

F. E. Spinner, IT. S. Treasurer. 
Tc General D. W. C. Clakke, Burlington, Vermont. 

"We may say here, that this gift of money to the cause 
of the country was not the only way in which Mr. Lin- 
coln shared in the burdens of the war. lie set an ex- 
ample to his fellow-citizens, also, by sending a repre- 
sentative recruit to the army. 

The differences in the Union ranks had all disappeared 



602 The Life, Public Services, axd 

"before the common danger. Efforts were made on every 
side, not for discord, but for harmony and nnited effort. 
$Vitk this desire, and in accordance with an intimation 
in the Baltimore Platform that a change in the Cabinet 
would be desirable, Mr. Lincoln determined to displace 
Mr. Blair from the position of Postrnastqr-General. The 
following correspondence passed between them : — 

Executive Mansion, 'Washington, September 23, 1S64. 
Hon. Montgomery Bi.air: 

My Dear Sir : — You have generously said to me, more than once, that 
whenever your resignation could be a relief to me, it was at my disposal. 
The time has come. You very well know that this proceeds from no dis- 
satisfaction of mine with you personally or officially. Your uniform 
kindntrfg has been unsurpassed by that of any other friend, and while it is 
true that the war does not so greatly add to the difficulties of your de- 
partment as to those of some others, it is yet much to say, as I most truly 
can, that in the three years and a half during which you have adminis- 
tered the General Post-Office, I remember no single complaint against you 
in connection therewith. Yours, as ever, 

A. Lixcoi.x. 

MR. BLAIR'S REPLY. 

My Dear Sir : — I have received your note of this date, referring to my 
offers to resign whenever you should deem it advisable for the public in- 
terest that I should do so, and stating that, in your judgment, that time 
has now come. I now, therefore, formally tender my resignation of the 
office of Postmaster-General. I cannot take leave of you without renew- 
ing the expressions of my gratitude for the uniform kindness which has 
marked your course towards Yours truly, 

M. Blair. 

TriE Presidext. 

The political canvass was prosecuted with energy and 
confidence in every section of the country. The main con- 
sideration which was pressed upon the public mind was, 
that the defeat of Mr. Lincoln would be, in the eyes of 
the rebels, an explicit disapproval of the general line of 
policy he had pursued, and a distinct repudiation by the 
people of the Northern States of the Baltimore declara- 
tion, that the war should be prosecuted to the complete 
and final overthrow of the rebellion. This view of the 
case completely controlled the sentiment and action of 
the people, and left little room or disposition for wrau- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. C03 

gling over the many petty issues to which such a contest 
gives birth. As the canvass advanced the confidence of 
success increased, and received a still further impulse 
from the grand military victories which, in quick suc- 
cession, "began to crown the Union arms. 

During the months of September and October, General 
Hood, in a vain endeavor to regain the ground lost by the 
fall of Atlanta, made a movement upon General Sherman's 
communications. He might have caused some trouble, if 
it had not been for the gallant defence of Alatoona, by 
General Corse, which enabled Sherman to adopt such 
measures as drove Hood away from his line of communi- 
cation, into the northern part of Alabama, where he gathered 
his forces for that fatal march which led his army to be 
crushed upon the heights of Nashville. 

General Grant had not been idle before Petersburg du- 
ring this time. Several attacks had been made by our 
forces both on the north side of the James and towards 
the south of Petersburg, resulting in steady gains for 
Grant' s operations. 

But the most important of all were the brilliant victories 
gained by General Sheridan, in the Shenandoah Valley, 
one on September 19th, near Winchester, the second three 
days later, at Fisher s Hill, and the greatest of all at Cedar 
Creek, on the 19 th of October, when what had already 
been a repulse of our army, by a surprise on the part of 
General Early, was turned into a glorious victory by the 
timely arrival of Sheridan, who on his return from 
Washington, hearing the guns of the battle at Win- 
chester, rode full speed to join his men, whom he reformed 
and led instantly to the destruction of the exulting 
rebels. 

It was with the joy of this last victory kindling his 
heart, that the President, on the 20th of October, issued 
his proclamation for a national thanksgiving, as follows : — 

A PROCLAMATION. 

It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, 
defending us with His guardian care against unfriendly designs from 
abroad, and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over 



604 The Life, Public Services, and 

the enemy who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly 
Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their 
camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas, with unusual health. He 
has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immi- 
gration, while He has opened to us new sources of wealth, and has 
crowned the labor of our workingmen in every department of industry 
with abundant reward. Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and 
inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution suffi- 
cient for the great trial of civil war, into which we have been brought by 
our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to 
afford t^> us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from 
all our dangers and affliction. 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do 
hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next, as a 
day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they 
may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty God, the 
beneficent Creator and Ruler of the universe ; and I do further recommend 
to my fellow-citizens aforesaid, that on that occasion they do reverently 
humble ther lselves in the dust, and from thence offer up penitent and fer- 
vent prayers and supplications to the great Disposer of events, for a return 
of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the 
land, which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling-place for ourselves 
and our posterity throughout all generations. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twentieth day of October, 
-, in the vear of Lord one thousand eicht hundred and sixty-four, 

|L S 

' and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

He also wrote the following letter of congratulation to 
General Sheridan, which was read at the head of every 
regiment in the command : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, October 22. 
To Major-General Sheridan: 

With great \ leasure I tender to you, and your brave army, the thank? 
of the nation and my own personal admiration and gratitude for the 
month's operations in the Shenandoah Valley, and especially for the splen- 
did work of October 19. Your obedient servant, 

Abraham Lincoln. 

These victories gave vigor and courage to the country. 
The price of gold fell in the market, the credit of the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 605 

Government was rapidly enhanced, volunteers swelled 
the ranks of the army, and the menaced draft promised 
to be unnecessary. 

The term for Which the hundred-days men from the 
West had enlisted had expired, and the men were sent 
home, having done good service. Those from Ohio had 
served in the east, while those from the States farther west 
had aided Sherman's march ; when they were discharged 
the following complimentary orders, by President Lincoln, 
were issued : — 

THANKS TO THE OHIO TROOPS. 

Washington, September 10. 
Governor Beougii: 

Pursuant to the President's directions, I transmit to you the following 
Executive order, made by him in acknowledgment of the services of the 
hundred-day men, who at the opening of the spring campaign volunteered 
their service in the operations of General Grant. The certificates of ser- 
vices mentioned in the order will be prepared without delay and trans- 
mitted to the officers and soldiers entitled to them. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

Executive order returning thanks to the Ohio Volunteers for one hun- 
dred days : — 

Executive Mansion, "Washington City, September 10, 1SC4. 

The term of one hundred days for which the National Gur.rd of Ohio 
volunteered having expired, the President directs an official acknowledg- 
ment of their patriotism and valuable services during the recent campaign. 
The term of service of their enlistment was short, but distinguished by 
memorable events in the valley of the Shenandoah, on the Peninsula, in 
the operations of the James River, around Petersburg and Richmond, in 
the battle of Monocacy, in the intrenchments of Washington, and in other 
important service. The National Guard of Ohio performed with alacrity 
the duty of patriotic volunteers, for which they are entitled, and arc here- 
by tendered, through the Governor of their State, the national thanks. 

The Secretary of War is directed to transmit a copy of this order to the 
Governor of Ohio, and to cause a certificate of their honorable service to be 
delivered to the officers and soldiers of the Ohio National Guard, who re- 
cently served in the military force of the United States as volunteers for 
one hundred days. Abraham Lincoln. 

THANKS TO THE TROOPS OF ILLINOIS. 

War Depaetment, Washington, October 7, 1S6-1 

To tiie Governor of Illinois : 

The following order has been made by the President, and the Adjutant- 
General is preparing certificates for the officers and soldiers of youi 
State, which will be forwarded to you for distribution. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 



606 The Life, Public Services, and 

Executive Mansion, Washington, October 1, 1S64. 

Special Executive order returning thanks to volunteers for one hun- 
dred days, from the States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin: — 

The term of one hundred days for which volunteers from the Slates of 
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin volunteered, under the call of their 
respective Governors, in the months of May and June, to aid the recent 
campaign of General Sherman, having expired, the President directs an 
official acknowledgment to he made of their patriotic service. It was 
their good fortune to render effective service in the brilliant operations 
in the Southwest, and to contribute to the victories of the national arms 
over the rebel forees in Georgia, under command of Johnston and Hood. ( m 
all occasions, and in every service to which they were assigned, their dutj 
as patriotic volunteers was performed with alacrity and courage, for which 
they are entitled to and are hereby tendered the national thanks through 
the Governors of their respective States. 

The Secretary of War is directed to transmit a copy of this order to 
the Governors of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and to cause a 
certificate of their honorable services to be delivered to the officers and 
soldiers of the States above named, who recently served in the military 
service of the United States as volunteers for one hundred days. 

A. Lincoln". 

To one of the Ohio regiments returning through Washing- 
ton and calling to serenade him, the President made a brief 
speech, in which are noticeable, first, his desire to impress 
upon them the importance of the main point involved in 
the contest with the rebellion, and the duty of not allow- 
ing minor matters to blind them to this main point, and 
second, that specimen of his careful and perfectly clear 
way of stating a proposition, when he says, not that this 
is a country in which all men are equal, but that it is one 
in which " every man has a rigid to be equal to every 
other man." 

The speech was as follows : — 

Soldieks: — You are about to return to your homes and your friends, 
after having, as I learn, performed in camp a comparatively short term 
of duty in this great contest. I am greatly obliged to you, and to all 
who have come forward at th6 call of their country. I wish it might be 
more generally and universally understood what the country is now 
engaged in. We have, as all will agree, a free government, where every 
man has a right to be equal with every other man. In this great struggle, 
this form of government and every form of human right is endangered 
if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is 
realized by every one. There is involved in this struggle, the question 
whether your children and my children shall enjoy the privileges we 
have enjoyed. I say this, in order to impress upon you, if you are not 
already so impressed, that no small matter should divert us from our 
great purpose. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. GOT 

There may be some inequalities in the practical application of ouf 
Bystem. It is fair that each man shall pay taxes in exact proportion to 
the value of his property; but if we should wait, before collecting a tax, 
to adjust the taxes upon each man in exact proportion with every other 
man, we should never collect any tax at all. There may be mistakes 
made sometimes ; things may be done wrong, while the officers of the 
Government do all they can to prevent mistakes. But I beg of you, as 
citizens of this great Republic, not to let your minds be carried off from 
the groat work we have before us. This struggle is too large for you to 
be diverted from it by any small matter. When you return to your 
bonus, rise up to the height of a generation of men worthy of a free 
government, and we will carry out the great work we have commenced. 
I return to you my sincere thanks, soldiers, for the honor you have done 
me this afternoon. 

To another Ohio regiment he spoke as follows : — 

Soldiers : — I suppose you are going home to see your families and 
friends. For the services you have done in this great struggle in which 
we are engaged, I present y T ou sincere thanks for myself and the country. 

I almost always feel inclined, when I say any thing to soldiers, to impress 
upon them, in a few brief remarks, the importance of success in this contest. 
It is not merely for the day, but for all time to come, that we should per- 
petuate for our children's children that great and free government which 
we have enjoyed all our lives. I beg you to remember this, not merely 
for my sake, but for yours. I happen, temporarily, to occupy this big 
White House. I am a living witness that any one of your children may 
look to come here as my father's child has. It is in order that each one 
of you may have, through this free government which we have enjoyed, 
an open field, and a fair chance for your industry, enterprise, and intelli- 
gence ; that you may all have equal privileges in the race of life, with 
all its desirable human aspirations — it is for this that the struggle should 
be maintained, that we may not lose our birthrights — not only for one, 
but for two or three years, if necessary. The nation is worth fighting 
for, to secure such an inestimable jewel. 

The premonitory symptoms of the result of the Presi- 
dential contest were seen in the State elections by which 
it was preceded. 

In September Vermont led off with a largely increased 
Union majorty, and Maine folloAved her a week after, 
showing also a proportionate increase in the majority 
with which that State had sustained the Administration. 

But the October elections in Ohio, Indiana, and Penn- 
sylvania indicated yet more clearly what was to be the 



60S The Life, Public Services, akd 

result in November. The two former States gave heavy 
majorities for the Union ticket on the home vote. In 
fact, in Indiana the soldiers were not allowed to vote at 
all. Governor Morton, who was a candidate for re-elec- 
tion, had made a splendid canvass, speaking with great 
effect all over the State. One matter which doubtless 
aided him materially, was the discovery of a plot on the 
part of leading members of the Democratic party in the 
Northwest to raise a revolt in that section of the coun- 
try, to release the rebel prisoners, and by arming them, 
to make a powerful diversion in favor of the rebels. The 
election following close upon this exposure, Indiana re- 
elected Governor Morton by a large majority, in spite of 
the absence of many of her loyal sons in the field. 

In Pennsylvania the result upon the home vote was 
close, but with the soldiers' votes the Union ticket car- 
ried the State by about twelve thousand majority. 

A victory was won, also, in Maryland for freedom, by 
the adoption, though by a close vote, of the new Free 
State Constitution. The heavy majorities in its favor, 
which were given by Baltimore and the more loyal sec- 
tions of the State, were overborne by the votes of the 
southern and western counties, but the votes of the 
soldiers were almost unanimous in favor of the Con- 
stitution, and Maryland took her place as a State whose 
freedom was insured. 

Mr. Lincoln took great interest in the success of this 
Constitution. The following is a letter which he wrote 
to a meeting of its friends in Baltimore, before the elec- 
tion : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, October 18. 

Hon. Henry W. Hoffman : 

My Dear Sir: — A convention of Maryland 1ms formed a new Consti- 
tution for the State ; a public meeting is called for this evening, at Balti- 
more, to aid in securing its ratification, and you ask a word from me for 
the occasion. I presume the only feature of the instrument about whicV 
there is serious controversy, is that which provides for the extinction of 
slavery. 

It needs not to be a secret, and I presume it is no secret, that I wish 
Buccess to this provision. I desire it on every consideration. I wish 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. GOO 

to see all men free. I wish the national prosperity of tl e already 
free, which I feel sure the extinction of slavery would bring. I wish to 
see in progress of disappearing that only thing which could bring this 
nation to civil war. I attempt no argument. Argument upon the question 
is already exhausted by the abler, better informed and more immediately 
interested sons of Maryland herself. I only add, that I shall be gratified 
exceedingly if the good people of the State shall by their votes ratify the 
new Constitution. 

Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 

After the result of the election was known, the Presi- 
dent made the following speech at a serenade given to 
him by the loyal Marylanders, in honor of the adoption 

of the Constitution : — 

Friexds and Fellow-Citizens :— I am notified that this is a compliment 
paid me by the loyal Marylanders resident in this District. I infer that 
the adoption of the new Constitution for the State furnishes the occasion, 
and that in your view the extirpation of slavery constitutes the chief 
merit o J " the new Constitution. Most heartily do I congratulate you, and 
Maryland, and the nation, and the world, upon this event. I regret that 
it did not occur two years sooner, which, I am sure, would have saved the 
nation more money than would have met all the private loss incident to 
the measure; but it has come at last, and I sincerely hope its friends 
may fully realize all their anticipations of good from it, and that its 
opponents may by its effects be agreeably and profitably disappointed. 

A word upon another subject. Something said by the Secretary of 
State in his recent speech at Auburn, has been construed by some into a 
threat, that if I shall be beaten at the election, I will, between then and 
the end of my constitutional term, do what I may be able to ruin tho 
Government. 

Others regard the fact that the Chicago Convention adjourned, not sine 
die, but to meet again, if called to do so by a particular individual, as 
the intimation of a purpose that if their nominee shall be elected he will 
at once seize control of the Government. I hope the good people will 
permit themselves to suffer no uneasiness on either point. I am strug- 
gling to maintain the Government, not to overthrow it. I am struggling 
especially to prevent others from overthrowing it. I therefore say 
that if I live, I shall remain President until the 4th of next March, 
and that whoever shall be constitutionally elected, in November, 
shall be duly installed as President on the 4th of March, and in the inter- 
val I shall do my utmost that whoever is to hold the helm for the next 
voyage shall start with the best possible chance of saving the ship. This 
is due to the people, both on principle and under the Constitution. 
Their will, constitutionally expressed, is the ultimate law for all. If they 
39 



G10 The Life, Public Services, and 

should deliberately resolve to Lave immediate peace, even at the loss of 
their country and their liberties, I know not the power or the right to 
resist them. It is their own business, and they most do as the) please 
with their own. I believe, however, they are still resolved to preserve 
their country and their liberties; and in this, in office or out of it, 1 am re- 
solved to stand by them. I may add, that in this purpose to save the 
country and its liberties, no classes of people seem so nearly unanimous 
as the soldiers in the field and the sailors afloat. Do they not have the 
hardest of it,? Who should quail while they do not? God bless the sol- 
diers and seamen, with all their brave commanders. 

The latter part of this speech was called forth hy a Air- 
rent misrepresentation of a speech made by Secretary Sew- 
ard at Auburn, on the 5th of September. The Secretary- 
had alluded to the declaration of the Chicago Convention 
in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities, and the 
inevitable tendency of the success of the ticket nominated 
upon that platform to paralyze the efforts of the Govern- 
ment to put down the rebellion by force of arms ; and 
he asked, if such a thing should happen, "who could 
vouch for the safety of the country against the rebels, 
during the interval which must elapse before the new 
Administration can constitutionally come into power?" 
This Avas distorted into a threat that if the Democratic 
candidate should be elected, the Administration would 
take means to retain by usurpation the power which 
should of right be handed over to him. And the charge 
was repeated so persistently, that the President at length 
felt called upon to notice it as he did. 

The result of the October elections had practically 
determined the result in November. But, as the time 
drew near, the atmosphere seemed full of turbulent and 
threatening elements. Loud and angry charges of fraud 
in the October elections were made by the Opposition, but 
were not sustained ; and they were succeeded by yet 
louder charges from the other side of an attempted fraud 
in the soldiers' votes of the State of New York, which 
were followed up by proof. Some of the Democratic 
agents were convicted of these attempted frauds, and, 
after trial and conviction by a military commission, they 
were sentenced to a heavy imprisonment. 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. Gil 

The rebels used all means in their power to aid the 
party from whose success they anticipated so much ad- 
vantage. Hood's movement, it was hoped, would have 
a political influence upon the election ; and Early's ad- 
vance was spoken of in Southern journals as a means of 
assisting the counting of the ballots in Pennsylvania. 
Along the Northern "border, too, the rebel agents, sent 
thither on " detached service " by the Rebel Government, 
were active, in movements intended to terrify and harass 
the people. On the 19th of October, a party of them 
made a raid into St. Albans, Vermont, robbing the banks 
there, and making their escape across the lines into Can- 
ada with their plunder, having killed one of the citizens 
in their attack. Pursuit was made, and several of 
the marauders were arrested in Canada. Proceedings 
were commenced to procure their extradition, which were 
not, however, brought to a close before the election. The 
Government received information that this affair was but 
one of a projected series, and that similar attempts would 
be made all along the frontier. More than this, there 
were threats, followed by actual attempts, to set fire to 
the principal Northern cities, and there were not wanting 
some signs of an inclination to renew the scenes of the 
riots of the year before. 

A very grave sensation was produced by the publica- 
tion of a report of Judge Advocate-General Holt, giving 
conclusive proof of the existence of an organized secret 
association at the North, controlled by prominent men in 
the Democratic party, whose objects were the overthrow, 
by revolution, of the Administration, in the interest of the 
rebellion. Some of the leaders were arrested and tried. 
The Democratic presses had sneered at the whole affair as 
one which was got up by the Government for political 
effect. But when one of their leaders, being on parole 
as he was being tried, ran away rather than meet the re- 
sult, people began to be sensible of the danger they had 
escaped. 

• So rife were threats of a revolution at the North, and 
especially in l^iew York City, if Mr. Lincoln were re- 



612 The Life, Public Services, and 

elected; that the Government sent a body of veterans 
from the Army of the James, under General Butler, to 
that city for purposes of precaution. But, fortunately, 
in New York, as everywhere else, so quiet an election 
was never known, nor was there ever one more utterly 
free from complaints of fraud. Certainly, none so de- 
cisive was ever held in this country. Of all the States 
which voted on that day, General McClellan carried 
but three — New Jersey, Delaware, and Kentucky — 
while Mr. Lincoln received the votes of all the New 
England States, of New York and Pennsylvania, of all 
the Western States, of West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisi- 
ana, and Arkansas, and of the new State of Nevada, 
which was, on the 31st of October, admitted into the 
Union by the following proclamation : — 

Whereas, The Congress of the United States passed an act, which was 
approved on the 21st day of March last, entitled, "An Act to enable the 
People of Nevada to form a Constitution and State Government," and for 
the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the 
original States ; and 

Tlliereas, The said Constitution and State Government have heen formed 
pursuant to the condition prescribed by the fifth section of the act of Con- 
gress aforesaid, and the certificate required by the said act, and also a 
copy of the Constitution and ordinances have been submitted to the 
President of the United States : 

Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of 
the United States, in accordance with the duty imposed upon me by the 
act of Congress aforesaid, do hereby declare and proclaim that the said 
State of Nevada is admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the 
original States. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this thirty-first day of Octo- 
ber, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight*mmdred and 
[l. s.] sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States 
the eighty-ninth. 

(Signed) Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : 

Wm. II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

The vote at that election was very large everywhere, 
and Mr. Lincoln received a popular majority of over four 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G13 

hundred thousand votes — a larger majority than was ever 
received by any other President. 

The feeling which was uppermost in the President's 
heart at the result of the election was joy over its effects 
upon the cause. He expressed this sentiment in some re- 
marks which he made, when serenaded by a club of Penn- 
sylvanians, at a late hour on the night of the election. His 
speech was as follows : — 

Fkiexds and Fellow-Citizen's: — Even before I had been informed by 
you tliat this compliment was paid to me by loyal citizens of Pennsylva- 
nia, friendly to me, I bad inferred that you were that portion of my 
countrymen who think that the best interests of the nation are to be sub- 
served by the support of the present Administration. I do not pretend 
to say that you who think so embrace all the patriotism and loyalty of 
the country. But I do believe, and I trust without personal interest, 
that the welfare of the country does require that such support and in- 
dorsement be given. I earnestly be'ieve that the consequence of this 
day's work, if it be as you assure me, and as now seems probable; will be 
to the lasting advantage, if not to the very salvation of the country. I 
cannot at this hour say what has been the result of the election ; but what- 
ever it may have been, I have no desire to modify this opinion, that all 
who have labored to-day in behalf of the Union organization have 
wrought for the best interests of their country and the world, not only 
for the present, but for all future ages. I am thankful to God for this 
approval of the people. But, while deeply grateful for this mark of their 
confidence in me, if I know my heart, my gratitude is free from any taint 
of personal triumph. I do not impugn the motives of any one opposed to 
me. It is no pleasure to me to triumph over any one, but I give thanks 
to the Almighty for this evidence of the people's resolution to stand by 
five government and the rights of humanity. 

The telegrax>h brought certain news of the result with- 
in a few hours. On the night of November 10th, the 
various Lincoln and Johnson Clubs of the District wont 
to the White House to serenade the President, to whom 
he spoke as follows : — 

It has long been a grave question whether any Government, not too. 
strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its 
existence in great emergencies. On this point the present rebellion 
brought our Government to a severe test, .and a Presidential election 
occurring in a regular course during the rebellion, added not a little to the 
train. 



614 The Life, Public Services, and 

If the loyal people united were put to the utmost of their strength by 
the rebellion, must they not fail when divided and partially paralyzed bj 
a political war among themselves? But the election was a necessity. 
We cannot have free government without elections ; and if the rebellion 
could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly 
claim to have already conquered and ruined us. The strife of the elec- 
tion is but human nature practically applied to the facts of the case. 
What has occurred in this case must ever recur in similar cases. Human 
nature will not change. In any future great national trial, compared 
with the men of this, we will have as weak and as strong, as silly and as 
wise, as bad and as good. Let us, therefore, study the incidents of this 
as philosophy to learn wisdom from, and none of them as wrongs to bo 
revenged. 

But the election, along with its incidental and undesirable strife, has 
done good, too. It has demonstrated that a people's government can 
sustain a national election in the midst of a great civil war. Until now, 
it has not been known to the world that this was a possibility. It shows, 
also, how sound and how strong we still are. It shows that even among 
the candidates of the same party, he who is most devoted to the Union 
and most opposed to treason can receive most of the people's votes. It 
shows, also, to the extent yet known, that we have more men now than 
we had wdien the war began. Gold is good in its place; but living, 
brave, and patriotic men are better than gold. 

But the rebellion continues, and, now that the election is over, may 
not all have a common interest to reunite in a common effort to save our 
common country? For my own part, I have striven and shall strive to 
avoid placing any obstacle in the way. So long as I have been here, I 
have not willingly planted a thorn in any man's bosom. While I am 
duly sensible to the high compliment of a re-election, and duly grateful, 
as I trust, to Almighty God, for having directed my countrymen to a 
right conclusion, as I think, for their good, it adds nothing to my satisfac- 
tion that any other man may be disappointed by the result. 

May I ask those who have not differed with me to join with me in this 
same spirit towards those who have? And now, let me close by asking 
three hearty cheers for our brave soldiers and seamen, and their gallant 
and skilful commanders. 

Bnt though the President rejoiced over the result 
mainly because of its public bearing on the welfare of 
the country, he was by no means insensible to the per- 
sonal confidence in himself which it exhibited. This feel- 
ing he expressed 'in a speech which lie made to the State 
Committee of Maryland, who waited on him to congratu- 
late him upon the trust. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G15 

The Chairman had remarked that they felt under deep 
obligations to him because, by the exercise of rare discre- 
tion on his part, Maryland to-day. occupied the proud 
position of a free State. 

The President said that he would not attempt to conceal his gratifica- 
tion with the result of the election, lie had exercised his best judgment 
for the good of the whole country, and to have the seal of approbation 
placed upon his course was exceedingly grateful to his feelings. 

Believing the policy he had pursued was the best and the only oue ' 
which couid save the country, he repeated what he had said before, that 
he indulged in no feeling of triumph over any one who had thought or 
acted differently from himself. He had no such feeling towards any 
living man. He thought the adoption of a Free State Constitution for 
Maryland was "a big thing," and a victory for right and worth a great 
deal more than the part of Maryland in the Presidential election, although 
of the latter he thought well. In conclusion, he repeated what he had 
said before : namely, that those who differed from and opposed us, will 
yet see that defeat was better for their own good than if they had been 
successful. 

This same sense of personal gratitude found expression 
in the following letter which he wrote to Deacon John 
Phillips, of Stourbridge, Massachusetts, who, though a 
hundred and four years old, attended the polls to cast 
his vote for Mr. Lincoln : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, November 21, 1SG4. 

Mv Peak Sik : — I have heard of the incident at the polls in your town, 
in which yon acted so honorable a part, and I take the liberty of writing 
to you to express my personal gratitude for the compliment paid me by 
the suffrage of a citizen so venerable. 

The example of such devotion to civic duties in one whose days have 
already been extended an average lifetime beyond the Psalmist's limit, 
cannot hut he valuable and fruitful. It is not for myself only, but for 
the country which you have in your sphere served so long and so well, 
that I thank you. Your friend and servant, 

Abraham Lincoln. 

Deacon Jonx Pniixipa. 

We publish here, as it was written on the same day, the 
following graceful letter addressed by the President to 
Mrs. Bixby, a resident of Boston, who had lost live sons 
in the war, and whose sixth was lying severely wounded 
at the time in the hospital : — 



616 The Life, Public Services, and 

. Executive Mansion, "Washington, November 21, 1S64. 

Dear Madam : — I have been shown in the files of the War Department 
& statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the 
mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I 
feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should 
attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I 
cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found 
in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly 
Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only 
the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that 
must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. 
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, 

Abraham Lincoln; 
To Mrs. Bixbt, Boston, Massachusetts. 

Tins letter, addressed to one conspicuous among the 
thousands who had laid "costly sacrifices upon the altar 
of Frvedom," touched the hearts of all, and strengthened 
the feelings of love which the great body of the people 
were coming to cherish for the man whom Providence 
had made their ruler. 

Prominent among the sentiments which ruled the heart 
and life of Mr. Lincoln, was that reverential sense of de- 
pendence upon an Almighty Providence, which finds 
strong expression in the following letter which he ad- 
dressed to Mrs. Eliza P. Gurney, an American lady resi- 
dent in London, and wife of a wealthy Quaker banker 
of that city : — 

My Esteemed Friend : — I have not forgotten, probably never shall 
forget, the very impressive occasion when yourself and friends visited me 
on a Sabbath forenoon, two years ago; nor had your kind letter, written 
nearly a year later, ever been forgotten. In all it has been your purpose 
to strengthen my reliance in God. I am much indebted to the good 
Christian people of the country for their constant prayer and consolation, 
and to no one of them more than to yourself. The purposes of the Al- 
mighty are perfect and must prevail, though we erring mortals may fail 
to accurately perceive them in advance. We hoped for a happy termina- 
tion of this terrible war long before this, but God knows best, and has 
ruled otherwise. We shall yet acknowledge His wisdom and our own 
errors therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in the best lights 
He gives us, trusting that so working still conduces to the great ends He 
ordains. Surely, He intends some great good to follow this mighty con- 
vulsion, which no mortal could make, and no mortal could stay. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 617 

Your people — the Friends — have had, and are having, very great trials. 
On principle and faith opposed to hoth war and oppression, they can only 
practically oppose oppression hy war. In this hard dilemma, some have 
chosen one horn and some the other. For those appealing to me on con- 
scientious grounds, I have done and shall do the hest I could and can in 
my own conscience under my oath to the law. That you believe this, I 
doubt not, and believing it, I shall still receive for our country and my- 
self your earnest prayers to our Father in Heaven. 
Your sincere friend, 

A. Lincoln. 

This sense of religious reliance upon Providence, evi- 
dent in all his acts, as well as in his expressions, and a 
feeling of the integrity and purity of purpose which per- 
vaded all his acts, had won for Mr. Lincoin the cordial 
support of the various Christian churches of the country, 
and he had good reason, therefore, for thus expressing 
his indebtedness to the " Christian people of the land for 
their constant prayer and consolation." Though not a 
member of any church or sect, he never neglected a 
proper occasion for declaring his faith in those great 
principles on which all Christian churches and sects are 
built, 

When a committee of colored men from Baltimore came 
to him to present him an elegant copy of the Bible, he 
made the following brief speech in answer ^o their ad- 
dress : — 

I can only say now, as I have often said before, it has always been a 
sentiment with me, that all mankind should be free. So far as I have 
been able, so far as came within my sphere, I have always acted as I be- 
lieved was just and right, and done all I could for the good of mankind. 
I have, in letters sent forth from this office, expressed myself better than 
I can now. 

In regard to the great Book, I have only to say it is the best gift winch 
God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world 
is communicated to us through this Book. But for that Book, we could not 
know right from wrong. All those things desirable to man arc contained 
in it. I return you sincere thanks for this very elegant copy of this great 
Book of God which you present. 

All knew that Mr. Lincoln was a man of thorough 
honesty of speech, and his whole life vindicated his asser- 



618 The Life, Public Services, and 

tion that he had acted as he "believed was just and right, and 
had done all he could for the good of mankind. It was not 
strange, therefore, that the churches of the country gath- 
ered around such a leader of such a cause. When the 
General Conference of the Methodist Church met in May, 
1S64, they adopted a series of resolutions, expressing the 
loyalty of that church, and their sympathy with him. 
These resolutions were presented to the President, who 
responded to the accompanying address as follows : — 

Gentlemen: — In response to your address, allow me to attest the 
accuracy of its historical statements, indorse the sentiments it expresses, 
• and thank you in the nation's name for the sure promise it gives. Xobly 
sustained, as the Government has been, by all the churches, I would 
utter nothing which might in the least appear invidious against any. 
Yet without this, it may fairly be said, that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, not less devoted than the best, is by its greatest numbers the 
most important of all. It is no fault in others that the Methodist Church 
Sends more soldiers to the field, more nurses to the hospitals, and more 
prayers to Heaven than any other. God bless the Methodist Church. 
Bless all the churches ; and blessed be God, who in this our great trial 
giveth us the churches. 

Similar action was also taken "by the Baptist Church, 
and to their delegation, on the presentation of the reso- 
lutions, thefPresident spoke as follows : — 

In the present very responsible position in which I am engaged, I have 
had great cause of gratitude for the support so unanimously given by all 
Christian- denominations of the country. I have had occasion so fre- 
quently to respond to something like this assemblage, that I have said all I 
had to say. This particular body is, in all respects, as respectable as any 
that have been presented to me. The resolutions I have merely heard 
read, and I therefore beg to be allowed an opportunity to make a short 
response in writing. 

These expressions were not confined to the religious 
"bodies ; they came to the President from all quarters. 
His sense of this sympathy on the part of those engaged 
in the educational interest was expressed in a letter which 
he xrote on learning that Princeton College had given 
him the degree of LL.D. The letter was as follows : — ■ 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 619 

ExErntTK Mansion, "Washington, Decemher 27, 1^64. 

My Dear Sir: — T have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your 
note of the 20th of Decemher, conveying the announcement that the Trus- 
tees of the College of New Jersey had conferred upon me the degree of 
Doctor of Laws. 

The assurance conveyed by this high compliment, that the course of 
the Government which J represent has received the approval of a body of 
gentlemen of such character and intelligence, in this time of public trial, 
is most grateful to me. 

Thoughtful men must feel that the fate of civilization upon this conti- 
nent is involved in the issue of our contest. Among the most gratifying 
proofs of this conviction is the hearty devotion everywhere exhibited by 
our schools and colleges to the national cause. 

I am most thankful if my labors have seemed to conduct to the 

preservation of those institutions, under which alone we can expect good 

government, and in its train sound learning, and the progress of the 

liberal arts. 

I am, sir, very truly, your obedient servant, 

A. Lincoln'. 
Dr. John Maclean. 

It was with no ordinary interest that the "good Chris- 
tian people" of the North had in the political campaign. 
And it was with satisfaction that they saw the triumph 
of the cause, which was so dear to their hearts, secured 
"by the re-election of a man so true, so pure, so honest, 
so kindly, so thoroughly Christian in the true sense of 
the word, as President Lincoln. 



620 The Life, Public Services, and 



CHAPTER XIX. 

TIIE MEETING OP CONGRESS AND PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 

Condition of ttte Country at tiie Meeting of Congress. — The Mes- 
sage. — Proceedings in Congress. — Fort Fisher. — Death of Edward 
Everett. — Peace Conference in Hampton Roads. — Military Af- 
fairs. 

The condition of the country when Congress met in 
December, 1864, was in every way encouraging. At the 
South, General Sherman, taking advantage of Hood's 
having left the way clear for his march to the sea, had de- 
stroyed Atlanta and plunged into the heart of Georgia. 

His plans were not positively known, "but it was known 
that he was making good progress, and the greatest con- 
fidence was felt in his accomplishing his designs, what- 
ever they were. The President described the position. 
of affairs exactly in the following little speech, which he 
made, on December 6th, in response to a serenade : — 

Friends and Fellow-Citizens : — I believe I shall never be old enough 
to speak without embarrassment when I have nothing to talk about. I 
have no good news to tell you, and yet I have no bad news to tell. We 
have talked of elections until there is nothing more to say about them. 
The most interesting news we now have is from .Sherman. We all know 
v-'here he went in at, but I can't tell where he will come out at. I will 
now close by proposing three cheers for General Sherman and his army. 

Hood had marched into Tennessee with the hope of 
overrunning the State, now that Sherman's army was out 
of his way, but found General Thomas an opponent not 
to be despised, and had already, in his terrible repulse at 
Franklin, received a foretaste of the defeats which were 
about to fall upon him in front of Nashville. 

In the East, Grant still held Lee's army with deadly 
gripe. He had cut off the Weldon Railroad and was 
glowly working to the southward, while Sheridan was 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G21 

undisputed master in the Shenandoah Valley. In North 
Carolina a decided advantage had been gained by the bold 
exploit of Lieutenant dishing, who, with a torpedo-boat, 
sunk the rebel ram Albemarle at her moorings, and 
opened the way for the recapture of Plymouth, with 
many guns. 

Many different schemes of the rebels, not precisely 
military in their character according to the ordinary rules 
of war, had been found out and foiled. A plot to cap- 
ture steamers on the Pacific coast was discovered in time 
to take measures not only to break it up, but to capture 
those who had undertaken it. Other attempted raids 
upon cities and towns near the northern frontier had also 
been prevented. And a plot to set fire to the city of New 
York failed of success, although fires were set in thir- 
teen of the principal hotels. 

The St. Albans raiders were in custody, and reasonable 
hopes were entertained that they would be delivered over 
to our authorities. The whole condition of the country 
was favorable, and the Thanksgiving Day appointed by 
the President for the 24th of November had been kept 
with joy and gladness of heart. Gold, which had been 
up as high as 2S0, had worked down nearly to 200, 
with every indication of going steadily lower. The pros- 
pects of a relief from any further draft were bright. And 
measures had been taken to effect the exchange of some 
of our prisoners, whose dreadful sufferings at the hands 
of the rebel authorities had shocked the public heart and 
given a deeper tone to public indignation. 

One slight indication of the progress which we were 
making in the restoration of the authority of the Union was 
the opening of the ports of Norfolk, Virginia, and Fernan- 
dina, Florida, by a proclamation issued on November 
19th. 

A PROCLAMATION BY THE PRESIDENT. 

Whereas, by my proclamation of the 19th of April, 1801, it was de- 
clared that the ports of certain States, including those of Norfolk, in the 
State of Virginia, and Femandina and Pensacola, in the State of Florida, 
were for reasons therein set forth intended to be placed under blockade. 



622 The Life, Public Services, and 

aud whereas the said ports were subsequently "blockaded accordingly, hut 
having for some time past been in the military possession of the United 
States, it is deemed advisable that they should be opened to domestic and 
foreign commerce. 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, pursuant to the authority in me vested by the fifth section 
of the act of Congress approved on the 13th of July, 1861, entitled "An 
act further to provide for the collection of duties on imports and for other 
purposes," do hereby declare that the blockade of the said ports of Nor- 
folk, Fernandina, and Pensacola shall so far cease and determine, from and 
after the. first day of December next, that commercial intercourse with 
those ports, except to persons, things, and information contraband of war, 
may from time to time be carried on, subject to the laws of the United 
States, to the limitations and in pursuance of the regulations which may 
he prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury, and to such military and 
naval regulations as are now in force or may hereafter be found necessary. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the city of Washington this nineteenth day of November, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 

[l. s.] four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty- 
ninth. Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : 

William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

Our foreign relations were also in a satisfactory condi 
tion. Our relations with Brazil had been for a moment 
threatened by the capture of the rebel armed vessel 
Florida, by the Wacliusett, under Captain Collins, while 
lying at anchor in the harbor of Bahia, in the early 
morning of October 5th. The act was unauthorized by 
our Government. It caused a great outcry from the 
friends of the rebels abroad, who used every effort to have 
the European powers take up the matter. ~No apprehen- 
sion, however, was felt of this, by our people, and while 
they regretted that any apparent insult should have been 
offered to Brazil, they were not insensible to the advan- 
tage of having thus got rid of one of the rebel pests of the 
sea. The vessel was brought to Hampton Roads, where, 
owing to injuries received by an accidental collision with 
a vessel going out of the harbor, coupled with the damage 
she had received when taken by the WacJiusett, she sank 
in spite of every effort that could be made to save her. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G23 

Those of her crew who were on "board when she was 
taken were afterwards restored to Brazil, and an ample 
apology made for the affair. 

Our relations with the Hawaiian Islands had been 
drawn more close by the presence of an envoy extraor- 
dinary from that State. The President, on the 11th of 
June, gave audience to the envoy, Hon. Elisha II. Allen, 
and in reply to the address made by him, on presenting 
his credentials, spoke as follows : — 

Sir: — In every light in which the State of ' the Hawaiian Islands can 
he contemplated, it is an object of profound interest for the United States. 
Virtually it was once a colony. It is now a near and intimate neighbor. 
It is a haven of shelter and refreshment for our merchants, fishermen, 
seamen, and other citizens, when on their lawful occasions they are nav- 
igating the eastern seas and oceans. Its people are free, and its laws, 
language, and religion are largely the fruit of, our own teaching and 
example. The distinguished part which you, Mr. Minister, have acted 
in the history of that interesting country, is well known here.- It gives 
me pleasure to assure you of my sincere desire to do what I can to ren- 
der now your sojourn in the United States agreeable to yourself, satisfac- 
tory to your sovereign, and beneficial to the Hawaiian people. 

In our relations with the other smaller powers there 
was nothing especially worthy of mention. 

It was manifest, however, that the Great Powers of 
Europe were less inclined to interfere with us than they 
had ever been. The St. Albans raid and the proceedings 
for the extradition of the raiders, were leading to a good 
deal of diplomatic correspondence between our Govern- 
ment and that of England. But the readiness of the 
Canadian authorities to take measures to deliver up the 
offenders and to prevent such incursions for the future, 
gave great encouragement to the belief that no serious 
difficulty would arise. 

There had been another change in the Cabinet, in addi- 
tion to that which occurred upon the resignation of Mr. 
Blair. Attorney-General Bates, on the 25th of Novem 
ber, tendered his resignation, to take effect on December 
1st. The post was afterwards filled by the appointment 
of the Hon. James Speed, of Kentucky. 



624 The Life, Public Services, and 

The death of Chief-Justice Taney, which occurred on 
the 12th of October, had left a vacancy in one of the 
most important offices in the country. The office was 
filled on the 6th day of December, by the appointment of 
Mr. Chase, the late Secretary of the Treasury. 

Congress met on Monday, the 5th of December, but 
the President' s message was not sent in till the next day. 
It was as follows : — 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. 
Fellow-Citizens of tiie Senate and House of Representatives: 

Again the blessings of health and abundant harvests claim our pro- 
fonndest gratitude to Almighty God. 

The condition of our foreign affairs is reasonably satisfactory. 

Mexico continues to be a theatre of civil war. While our political rela 
tions with that country have undergone no change, we have at the samo 
time strictly maintained neutrality between the belligerents. At the re- 
quest of the States of Costa Rica and Nicaraugua, a competent engineer 
has been authorized to make a survey of the River San Juan and the port 
of San Juan. It is a source of much satisfaction that the difficulties 
which, for a moment, excited some political apprehension, and caused a 
closing of the inferoceanic transit route, have been amicably adjusted, 
and that there is a good prospect that the route will soon be reopened 
with an increase of capacity and adaptation. We could not exagger 
ate either the commercial or the political importance of that great im- 
provement. It would be doing injustice to an important South American 
State not to acknowledge the directness, frankness, and cordiality with 
which the States of Colombia have entered into intimate relations with this 
Government. A claims convention has been constituted to complete the 
unfinished work of the one which closed its session in 1801. 

The new liberal Constitution of Venezuela having gone into effect with 
the universal acquiescence of the people, the Government under it has 
been recognized, and diplomatic intercourse with it has been opened in a 
cordial and friendly spirit. 

The long deferred Aves Island claim has been satisfactorily paid and 
discharged. Mutual payments have been made of the claims awarded by 
the late joint commission for the settlement of claims between the United 
States and Peru. An earnest and cordial friendship continues to exist 
between the two countries, and such efforts as were in my power have 
been used to remove misunderstanding, and avert a threatened war between 
Peru and Spain. Our relations are of the most friendly nature with 
Chili, the Argentine Republic, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Paraguay, San Salva- 
dor, and Hayti. During the past year no differences of any kind have 
arisen with any of these republics- and on the other hand, their synipa 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. C25 

thies with the United States are constantly expressed -with cordiality and 
earnestness. 

The claim arising from the seizure of the cargo of the brig "Macedonian, 
in 1821, has been paid in full by the Government of Chili. 

Civil war continues in the Spanish part of San Domingo, apparently 
without prospect of an early close. 

Official correspondence has been freely opened with Liberia, and it 
gives us a pleasing view of social and political progress in that republic. 
It may be expected to derive new vigor from American influence, im 
proved by the rapid disappearance of slavery in the United States. 

I solicit your authority to furnish to the republic a gunboat, at a mod- 
erate cost, to be reimbursed to the United States by instalments. Such a 
vessel is needed for the safety of that State against the native African 
races, and in Liberian hands it would be more effective in arresting the 
African slave-trade than a squadron in our own hands. The possession 
of the least organized naval force would stimulate a generous ambition 
in the republic, and the confidence which we should manifest by fur- 
nishing it, would win forbearance and favor towards the colony from all 
civilized nations. 

The proposed overland telegraph between America and Europe, by the 
way of Behring's Straits and Asiatic Russia, which was sanctioned by 
Congress at the last session, has been undertaken under very favorable 
circumstances by an association of American citizens, with the cordial 
good will and support as well of this Government as of those of Great 
Britain and Russia. Assurances have been received from most of the 
South American States of their high appreciation of the enterprise, and 
their readiness to co-operate in constructing lines tributary to that world- 
encircling communication. 

I learn with much satisfaction that the noble design of a telegraphic 
communication between the eastern coast of America and Great Britain 
has been renewed, with the full expectation of its early accomplishment. 
Thus it is hoped that, with the return of domestic peace, the country will 
be able to resume with energy and advantage her former high career 
of commerce and civilization. 

Our very popular and estimable representative in Egypt died in April 
last. An unpleasant altercation, which arose between the temporary incum- 
bent of the office and the Government of the Pacha, resulted in a suspen- 
sion of intercourse. The evil was promptly corrected on the arrival of 
the successor in the consulate, and our relations with Egypt, as well as 
our relations with the Barbary Powers, are entirely satisfactory. 

The rebellion which has been so long flagrant in China, has «it last 
been suppressed with the co-operating good offices of this Government, 
and of the other Western commercial States. The judicial consular 
establishment has become very difficult and onerous, and it will need 
legislative revision to adapt it to the extensibn of our commerce, and 
to the more intimate intercourse which has been instituted with the Goy 
40 



626 The Life, Public Services, and 

eminent and people of that vast empire. China seems to be acceding 
with hearty good will the conventional laws which regulate commerce 
and social intercourse among Western nations. 

Owing to the peculiar situation of Japan, and the anomalous form of 
its government, the action of that empire, in performing treaty stipula- 
tions, is inconstant and capricious. Nevertheless, good progress has 
been effected by the "Western powers, moving with enlightened concert. 
Our own pecuniary claims have been allowed or put in course of settlement, 
and the inland sea has been reopened to commerce. There is reason also 
to believe that these proceedings have increased rather than diminished 
the friendship of Japan towards the United States. 

The ports of Norfolk, Fernandina, and Pensacola have been opened by 
proclamation. It is hoped that foreign merchants will now consider 
whether it is not safer and more profitable to themselves, as well as just 
to the United States, to resort to them and other open ports, than it 
is to pursue, through many hazards, and at vast cost, a contraband trade 
with other ports which are closed, if not by actual military operations, at 
least by a lawful and effective blockade. 

For myself, I have no doubt of the power and duty of the Executive, 
under the law of nations, to exclude enemies of the human race from an 
asylum in the United States. If Congress should think that proceedings 
in such cases lack the authority of law, or ought to be further regulated 
by it, I recommend that provision be made for effectually preventing for- 
eign slave-traders from acquiring domicile and facilities for their criminal 
occupation in our country. 

It is possible that if it were a new and open question, the maritime 
powers, with the light they now enjoy, would not concede the privileges 
of a naval belligerent to the insurgents of the United States, destitute as 
they are and always have been equally of ships and of ports and harbors. 
Disloyal emissaries have been neither less assiduous nor more successful 
during the last year than they were before that time in their efforts, 
under favor of that privilege, to embroil our country in foreign wars. The 
desire and determination of the maritime States to defeat that design are 
believed to be as sincere as, and cannot be more earnest than, our own. 
Nevertheless, unforeseen political difficulties have arisen, especially in 
Brazilian and British ports, and on the northern boundary of the United 
States, which have required, and are likely to continue to require, the 
practice of constant vigilance and a just and conciliatory spirit on the part 
"of the United States, 'as well as of the nations concerned and their Gov- 
ernments. Commissioners have been appointed under the treaty with 
Great Britain on the adjustment of the claims of the Hudson's Bay and 
Puget's Sound Agricultural Companies in Oregon, and are now proceeding 
to the execution of the trust assigned to them. 

In view of the insecurity of life in the region adjacent to the Canadian 
border by recent assaults and depredations committed by inimical and 
desperate persons who are harbored there, it has been thought proper to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G27 

give ao'tice that after the expiration of six months, the period condition- 
ally stipulated in the existing arrangements with Great Britain, the 
United States must hold themselves at liberty to increase their naval 
armament npon the lakes, if they shall find that proceeding necessary. 
The condition of the border -will necessarily come into consideration in 
connection with the question of continuing or modifying the rights of 
transit from Canada through the United States, as well as the regulation 
of imports, which were temporarily established by the Reciprocity Treaty 
of the 5th of June, 1864. 

I desire, however, to be understood, while making this statement, that 
the colonial authorities are not deemed to be intentionally unjust or un- 1 
friendly towards the United States ; but, on the contrary, there is every 
reason to expect that, with the approval of the Imperial Government, 
they will take the necessary measures to prevent new incursions across 
the border. 

The act passed at the last session for the encouragement of immigration 
has, so far as was possible, been put into operation. 

It seems to need amendment which will enable the officers of the Gov- 
ernment to prevent the practice of frauds against the immigrants while 
on their way and on their arrival in the ports, so as to secure them here 
a free choice of avocations and places of settlement. A liberal disposition 
towards this great national policy is manifested by most of the European 
States, and ought to be reciprocated on our part by giving the immigrants 
effective national protection. I regard our immigrants as one of the prin- 
cipal replenishing streams which are appointed by Providence to repair 
the ravages of internal war and its wastes of national strength and 
health. All that is necessary is to secure the flow of that stream in its 
present fulness, and to that end the Government must in everyway make 
it manifest that it neither needs nor designs to impose involuntary military 
service upon those who come from other lands to cast their lot in our country. 

The financial affairs of the Government have been successfully admin- 
istered during the last year. 

The legislation of the last session of Congress has beneficially affected 
the revenue. Although sufficient time has not yet elapsed to experience 
the full effect of several of the provisions of the acts of Congress imposing 
increased taxation, the receipts during the year, from all sources, upon the 
basis of warrants signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, including loans 
and the balance in the treasury on the first day of July, 1SG3, were 
$1,394,796,007 62, and the aggregate disbursements upon the same basia 
were $1,298,056,101 89, leaving a balance in the treasury, as shown by 
warrants, of $96 , ,739,905 78. Deduct from these amounts the amount of 
the principal of the public debt redeemed, and the amount of issues ia 
substitution therefor, and the actual cash operations of the treasury were, 
receipts, $S84,07G,646 77, disbursements, $865,234,087 86, which leaves a 
cash balance in the treasury of $18,842,55S 71. Of the receipts, there 
were derived from customs, $102,316,152 99; from land*, $588,333 29; 



628 The Life, Public Services, and 

from direct taxes, $475,648 96; from internal revenues, $109,741,134 10; 
from miscellaneous sources, $47,511,448 10; and from loans applied to 
actual expenditures, including former balance, $623,443,929 13. There 
were disbursed, for the civil service, $27,505,599 46 ; for pensions and 
Indians, $7,517,930 97; for the War Department, $60,791,842 97; for the 
Navy Department, $85,733,292 97; for interest of the public debt, 
$53,685,421 69. Making an aggregate of $865,234,087 86, and leaving a 
balance in the treasury of $18,842,558 71, as before stated. 

For the actual receipts and disbursements for the first quarter, and the 
estimated receipts and disbursements for the three remaining quarters of 
the current fiscal year, and the general operations of the Treasury in 
detail, I refer you to the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. I con- 
cur with him in the opinion that the proportion of the moneys required to 
meet the expenses consequent upon the war derived from taxation should 
be still further increased ; and I earnestly invite your attention to this 
subject, to the end that there may be such additional legislation as shall 
be required to meet the just expectations of the Secretary. The public 
debt on the 1st day of July last, as appears by the books of the Treasury, 
amounted to one billion seven hundred and forty million six hundred and 
ninety thousand four hundred and eighty-nine dollars and forty-nine cents. 
Probably, should the war continue for another year, that amount may be 
increased by not far from five hundred millions. Held as it is, for the 
most part, by our own people, it has become a substantial branch of 
national though private property. For obvious reasons, the more nearly 
this property can be distributed among all the people, the better. To 
favor such general distribution, greater inducements to become owners, 
perhaps, might with good effect and without injury, be presented to persons 
of limited means. With this view, I suggest whether it might not be 
both expedient and competent for Congress to provide that a limited 
amount of some future issue of public securities might be held, by am 
~bona-fi.de purchaser, exempt from taxation and from seizure for debt, 
under such restrictions and limitations as might be necessary to guard 
against abuse of so important a privilege. This would enable prudent 
persons to set aside a small annuity against a possible day of want. 
Privileges like these would render the possession of such securities to the 
amount limited most desirable to any person of small means who might 
be able to save enough for the purpose. The great advantage of citizens 
being creditors as well as debtors with relation to the public debt is 
obvious. Men readily perceive that they cannot be much oppressed by a 
debt which they owe to themselves. The public debt on the 1st day of July 
last, although somewhat exceeding the estimate of the Secretary of the 
Treasury made to Congress at the commencement of last session, falls 
short of the estimate of that officer made in the preceding December as to 
its probable amount at the beginning of this year, by the sum of 
$3,995,079 33. This fact exhibits a satisfactory condition and condict of 
the operations of the Treasury. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, G29 

The national banking system is proving to be acceptable to capitalists 
and to tbe people. On the 25th day of November, five hundred and 
eighty-four national banks had been organized, a considerable number of 
which were conversions from State banks. Changes from the State sys- 
tem to the national system are rapidly taking place, and it is hoped that 
very soon there will be in the United States no banks of issue not author- 
ized by Congress, and no bank-note circulation not secured by the Gov- 
ernment. That the Government and the people will derive general ben- 
efit from this change in the banking system of the country can hardly be 
questioned. The national system will create a reliable and permanent 
influence in support of the national credit, and protect the people against 
hisses in the use of paper money. "Whether or not any further legislation 
is advisable for the suppression of State bank issues, it will be for Congress 
to determine. It seems quite clear that the Treasury cannot be satisfac- 
torily conducted, unless the Government can exercise a restrai ling power 
over the bank-note circulation of the country. 

The report of the Secretary of "War and the accompanying documents 
will detail the campaigns of the armies in the field since the date of the last 
annual message, and also the operations of the several administrative 
bureaux of the War Department during the last year. It will also specify 
the measures deemed essential for the national defence, and to keep up and 
supply the requisite military force. The report of the Secretary of the Navy 
presents a comprehensive and satisfactory exhibit of the affairs of that de- 
partment and of the naval service. It is a subject of congratulation and 
laudable pride to our countrymen that a navy of such proportions has 
been organized in so brief a period, and conducted with so much efficiency 
and success. The general exhibit of the navy, including vessels under 
construction on the 1st of December, 1864, shows a total of 671 vessels, 
carrying 4,610 guns, and 510,396 tons, being an actual increase during 
the year, over and above all losses by shipwreck or in battle, of 83 ves- 
sels, 167 guns, and 42,427 tons. The total number of men at this time iri 
the naval service, including officers, is about 51,000. There have been 
captured by the navy during the year 324 vessels, and the whole number 
ef naval captures since hostilities commenced is 1,379, of which 267 are 
steamers. The gross proceeds arising from the sale of condemned prize 
property thus far reported amounts to $14,396,250 51. A large amount 
of such proceeds is still under adjudication, and yet to be reported. The 
total expenditures of the Navy Department, of every description, including 
the cost of the immense squadrons that have been called into existence 
from the 4th of March, 1861, to the 1st of November, 1864, are 
$238,647,202 35. Your favorable consideration is invited to the various 
recommendations of the Secretary of the Navy, especially in regard to a 
navy-yard and suitable establishment for the construction and repair of 
iron vessels and the machinery and armature of our ships, to which refer- 
ence was made in my last annual message. 

Your attention is a. so invited to the views expressed in the report in 



630 The Life, Public Services, -and 

-elation to the legislation of Congress, at its last session, in respect to 
priza on our inland waters. 

I cordially concur in the recommendations of the Secretary as to the 
propriety of creating the new rank of vice-admiral in our naval service. 

Your attention is invited to the report of the Postmaster-General for a 
(Retailed account of the operations and financial condition of the Post- 
Ofrice Department. 

The postal revenues for the year ending June 30, 1864, amounted to 
$12,468,253 78, and the expenditures to $12,644,786 20; the excess of 
expenditures over receipts being $206,652 42. 

The views presented by the Postmaster-General on the subject of 
special grants by the Government, in aid of the establishment of new 
lines ot ocean mail steamships, and the policy he recommends for the 
development of increased commercial intercourse with adjacent and 
neighboring countries, should receive the careful consideration of Con- 
gress. 

It is of noteworthy interest, that the steady expansion of population, 
improvement, and govermental institutions over the new and unoccupied 
portions of our country, has scarcely been checked, much less impeded 
or destroyed by our great civil war, which at first glance would seem to 
have absorbed almost the entire energies of the nation. 

The organization and admission of the State of Nevada has been com- 
pleted in conformity with law, and thus our excellent system is firmly 
established in the mountains which once seemed a barren and uninhabita- 
ble waste between the Atlantic States and those which have grown up 
on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. 

The Territories of the Union are generally in a condition of prosperity 
and rapid growth. Idaho and Montana, by reason of their great distance 
and the interruption of communication with them by Indian hostilities, 
have been only partially organized ; but it is understood that these diffi- 
culties are about to disappear, which will permit their Governments lika 
those of the others to go into speedy and full operation. 

As intimately connected with and promotive of this material growth of 
the nation, I ask the attention of Congress to the valuable information 
and important recommendations relating to the public lands, Indian affairs., 
the Pacific Railroads, and mineral discoveries contained in the report of 
the Secretary of the Interior, which is herewith transmitted, and which 
report also embraces the subjects of patents, pensions, and other topics of 
public interest pertaining to his department. The quantity of public land 
disposed of during the five quarters ending on the thirtieth of September 
last, was 4,221,342 acres, of which 1,538,614 acres were entered under 
the homestead law. The remainder was located with military land war- 
rants, agricultural scrip certified to States for railroads, and sold for 
cash. The cash received from sales and location fees was $1,019,440. 
The income from sales during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1S64, 
was $67S,007 21, against $136,077 95 received during the preceding 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G3L 

year. The aggregate number of acres surveyed during the year has beet 
equal to the quantity disposed of, and there is open to settlement about 
133,000,000 acres of surveyed land. 

The great enterprise of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific 
States by railways and telegraph lines has been entered upon with a 
vigor that gives assurance of success, notwithstanding the embarrass- 
ments arising from the prevailing high prices of materials and labor. 
The route of the main line of the road has been definitely located 
for one hundred miles westward from the central point at Omaha City, 
Nebraska, and a preliminary location of the Pacific Railroad of Califor- 
nia has been made from Sacramento, eastward, to the great bend of 
Mucker River, in Nevada. Numerous discoveries of gold, silver, and 
ciunabar mines have been added to the many heretofore known, and the 
country occupied by the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains and the 
subordinate ranges now teems with enterprising labor which is richly 
remunerative. It is believed that the product of the mines of precious 
metals in that region has during the year reached, if not exceeded, 
$100,000,000 in value. 

It was recommended in my last annual message that our Indian 
system be remodelled. Congress at its last session, acting upon the 
recommendation, did provide for reorganizing the system in California, 
and it is believed that, under the present organization, the management 
of the Indians there will be attended with reasonable success. Much yet 
remains to be done to provide for the proper government of the Indians 
in other parts of the country, to render it secure for the advancing settler 
and to provide for the welfare of the nation. The Secretary reiterates 
his recommendations, and to them the attention of Congress is invited. 

The liberal jjrovisions made by Congress for paying pensions to invalid 
soldiers and sailors of the Republic, and to the widows, orphans, and 
dependent mothers of those who have fallen in battle, or died of disease 
contracted, or of wounds received in the service of their country, have 
been diligently administered. 

There have been added to the pension-rolls, during the year ending 
the 30th day of June last, the names of 16,770 invalid soldiers, and of 
271 disabled seamen; making the present number of army invalid pen- 
sioners 22,767, and of the navy invalid pensioners, 712. Of widows, 
orphans, and mothers, 22,198 have been placed on the army pension-rolls, 
and 248 on the navy rolls. The present number of army pensioners of 
this class is 25,443, and of the navy pensioners, 793. At the beginning 
of the year the number of Revolutionary pensioners was 1,430 ; only 
twelve of them were soldiers, of whom seven have since died. The 
remainder are those who under the law receive pensions because of rela- 
tionship to Revolutionary soldiers. 

During the year ending the 30th of June, 1864, $4,504,616.02 have 
been paid to pensioners of all classes. 
I cheerfully commend to your c )ntinued patronage the benevolent 



632 The £ife, Public Services, and 

institutior.s of the District of Columbia, which have hitherto been estab- 
lished or fostered by Congress, and respectfully refer for information con- 
cerning them, and in relation to the Washington Aqueduct, the Capitol, 
and other matters of local interest, to the report of the Secretary. 

The Agricultural Department, under tbe supervision of its present 
energetic and faithful head, is rapidly commending itself to the great and 
vital interest it was created to advance. It is peculiarly the people's 
department, in which they feel more directly concerned than in any other. 
I commend it to the continued attention and fostering care of Congress. 

The war continues. Since the last annual message, all the important 
lines and positions then occupied by our forces have been maintained, and 
our armies have steadily advanced, thus liberating the regions left in the 
rear; so that Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and parts of other States 
have again produced reasonably fair crops. 

The most remarkable feature in the military operations of the year is 
General Sherman's attempted march of three hundred miles, directly 
through an insurgent region. It tends to show a great increase of our 
relative strength, that our General-in-Chief should feel able to confront 
and hold in check every active force of the enemy, and yet to detach a 
well-appointed large army to move on such an expedition. Tbe result 
not yet being known, conjecture in regard to it cannot here be indulged. 

Important movements have also occurred during the year, to the effect 
of moulding society for durability in the Union. Although short of com- 
plete success, it is much in the right direction that 12,000 citizens in each 
of the States of Arkansas and Louisiana have organized loyal State Govern- 
ments, with free constitutions, and are earnestly struggling to maintain aud 
administer them. 

The movements in the same direction, more extensive though less 
definite, in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee, should not be overlooked. 

But Maryland presents the example of complete success. Maryland is 
secure to liberty and Union for all the future. The genius of rebellion 
will no more claim Maryland. Like another foul spirit, being driven out, 
it may seek to tear her, but it will woo her no more. 

At the last session of Congress, a proposed amendment of the Constitu- 
tion, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, passed the Senate, 
but failed for lack of the requisite two-thirds vote in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. Although the present is the same Congress, and nearly the 
same members, and without questioning the wisdom or patriotism of those 
who stood in opposition, I venture to recommend the reconsideration and 
passage of the measure at the present session. Of course the abstract ques- 
tion is not changed, but an intervening election shows almost certainly that 
the next Congress will pass the measure, if this does not. Hence there is 
only a question of time as to when the proposed amendment will goto the 
States for their action, and as it is to go at all events, may we not agree 
that the sooner the better? It is not claimed that the election has im- 
posed a duty on members to change their views or their votes any further 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G33 

than a3 an additional element to be considered. Their judgment may be 
affected by it. It is the voice of the people now for the first time- heard 
upon the question. In a great national crisis like ours, unanimity of 
action among those seeking a common end is very desirable — almost 
indispensable; and yet no approach to such unanimity is attainable unless 
some deference shall be paid to the will of the majority. In this case the 
common end is the maintenance of the Union, and among the means to 
secure that end, such will, through the election, is most clearly declared 
in favor of such constitutional amendment. The most reliable indication 
of public purpose in this country is derived through our popular elections. 
Judging by the recent canvass and its results, the purpose of the people 
within the loyal States to maintain the integrity of the Union was never 
more firm nor more nearly unanimous than now. The extraordinary calm- 
ness and good order with which the millions of voters met and mingled 
at the polls, give strong assurance of this. Not only all those who sup- 
ported the Union ticket. (so called), but a great majority of the opposing 
party also, may be fairly claimed to entertain and to be actuated by the same 
purpose. It is an unanswerable argument to this effect that no candidate 
for any office whatever, high or low, has ventured to seek vote? on the 
avowal that he was for giving up the Union. There has been much im- 
pugning of motives, and much heated controversy as to the proper means 
and best mode of advancing the Union cause; but in the distinct issue of 
Union or no Union, the politicians have shown their instinctive knowledge 
that there is no diversity among the people. In affording the people tbo 
fair opportunity of showing one to another, and to the world, this firm- 
ness and unanimity of purpose, the election has been of vast value to tbo 
national cause. The election has exhibited another fact, not less valuable 
to be known — the fact that we do not approach exhaustion in the most 
important branch of the national resources — that of living men. While it is 
melancholy to reflect that the war has filled so many graves, and caused 
mourning to so many hearts, it is some relief to know that, compared with 
the surviving, the fallen have been so few. While corps and divisions and 
regiments have formed and fought and dwindled and gone out of exists 
ence, a great majority of the men who composed them are still living. 
The same is true of the naval service. The election returns prove this. 
So many voters could not else be found. The States regularly holding 
elections, both now and four years a^o — to wit: California, Connecti- 
cut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine. Maryland, . Mas- 
sachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, 
New York, Oh : o, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West 
Virginia, and Wisconsin — cast 3,982,011 votes now, against I . 22 cast 

then; showing an aggregate now of 3,982,011, to which is t > be added 
33,7G2 cast now in the new States of Kansas and Nevada, which States 
did not vote in 18G0; thus swelling the aggregate to 4,015,773, and the 
net increase, during the three years and a half of war, to 145,551. A table 
is appended, showing particulars. To this again should he added the 



634 The Life, Public Services, and 

numbers of all soldiers in tbe field belonging to Massachusetts, Rhode 
Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Indiana, Illinois, and California, who by 
the laws of ttiose States could not vote away from their homes, and which 
number cannot be less than 90,000. Nor yet is this all. The number in . 
organized Territories is triple now what it was four years ago, while 
thousands, white and black, join us as the national arms press back the 
insurgent lines. So much is shown affirmatively and negatively by the elec 
tion. It is not material to inquire how the increase has been produced, or to 
show that it would have been greater but for the war, which is probably 
true. The important fact remains demonstrated that we have more men 
now than we had when the war began ; that we are not exhausted, nor 
in process of exhaustion ; that we are gaining strength, and may, if need 
be, maintain the contest indefinitely. This as to men. 

Comparative Vote, 18G0 and 1864. 

I860. 1S64. 

Kentucky 148,216 91,300 

Maine 97,918 115,141 

Maryland 92,502 72,703 

Massachusetts 169,533 175,487 

Michigan 154,747 162,41? 

Minnesota 34,799 42,534 

Missouri 165,533 * 90,000 

New Hampshire 65,953 69,111 

New Jersey 121,125 128,030 

New York 675,156 730,664 

Ohio 442,441 470,745 

Oregon 14,410 f 14,410 

Pennsylvania 476,442 512,691 

Rhode Island 19,931 22,187 

Vermont 42,844 55,811 

West Virginia 46,195 33,S74 

"Wisconsin 152,180 148,513 



Total 3,870,222 3,982,011 

Kansas 17,234 

Nevada 16,528 33,762 

Total 4,015,773 

Material resources are now more complete and abundant than ever. 
The national resources, then, are unexhausted, and, as we believe, inex- 
haustible. The public purpose to re-establish and maintain the national 
authority is unchanged, and, as we believe, unchangeable. The manner 
of continuing the effort remains to choose. On careful consideration of 
all the evidence accessible, it seems to me that no attempt at negotiation 
with the insurgent leader could result in any good. He would accept of 
nothing short of the severance of tbe Union. His declarations to this 
effect are explicit and oft repeated. He does not attempt to deceive us. 
He affords us no excuse to deceive ourselves. "We cannot voluntarily yield 

* Nearly. \ Estimated 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 635 

it. Between him and us the issue is distinct, simple, and inflexible. It 
is an issue which can only he tried by war, and decided by victory. If 
we yield, we are beaten. If the Southern people fail him, he is beaten. 
Either way it would be the victory and defeat following war. What is 
true, however, of him who heads the insurgent cause, is not necessarily 
true of those who follow. Although he cannot reaccept the Union, they 
can. Some of them we know already desire peace and reunion. The 
number of such may increase. They can at any moment have peace 
simply by laying down their arms and submitting to the national 
authority under the Constitution. After so much the Government could 
not, if it would, maintain war against them. The loyal people would not 
sustain or allow it. If questions should remain, we would adjust them by 
the peaceful means of legislation, conference, courts, and votes, operating 
only in constitutional and lawful channels. Some certain and other pos- 
sible questions are, and would be. beyond the executive power to-adjust — 
as, for instance, the admission of members into Congress, and whatever 
might require the appropriation of money. The executive power itself 
would be greatly diminished by the cessation of actual war. Pardons and 
remissions of forfeiture, however, would still be within the executive con- 
trol. In what spirit and temper this control would be exercised, can be 
fairly judged of by the past. A year ago general pardon and amnesty, 
upon specified terms, were offered to all except certain designated classes, 
and it was at the same time made known that the excepted classes were 
still within contemplation of special clemency. During the year many 
availed themselves of the general provision, and many more would, only 
that the signs of bad faith in some led to such precautionary measures as 
rendered the practical process less easy and certain. During the same 
time, also, special pardons have been granted to individuals of excepted* 
classes, and no voluntary application has been denied. 

Thus practically the door has been for a full year open to all, except 
8Qch as were not in condition to make free choice — that is such as were in 
custody or under constraint. It is still so open to all ; but the time may 
come, probably will come, when public duty shall demand that it be closed, 
and that in lieu more vigorous measures than heretofore shall be adopted. 

In presenting the abandonment of armed resistance to the national au- 
thority on the part of the insurgents as the only indispensable condition 
to ending the war on the part of the Government, I retract nothing 
heretofore said as to slavery. I repeat the declaration made a year ago, 
that while I remain in my present position I shall not attempt to re- 
tract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor shall I return to 
slavery any person who is free by the terms of that proclamation or by 
any of the acts of Congress. 

If the people should, by whatever mode or means, make it an executive 
duty to re-enslave such persons, another, and not I, must be their instru- 
ment to perform it. 

In stating a single condition of peace, I mean simply to say, that the 



636 The Life, Public Services, and 

war will cease on the part of the Government whenever it shall havo 
ceased on the part of those who began it. 

. (Signed) Abraham Lincoln. 

But little business of importance was transacted in Con- 
gress before the holidays. The question of the admission 
of senators and representatives from Louisiana made its 
appearance at once, but the credentials of the applicants 
for admission were referred to appropriate committees, and 
no other action was taken on them. 

On the 12th of December the House passed a resolution 
requesting the President to give notice of the intention of 
the Government to terminate the Reciprocity Treaty be- 
tween this country and Canada. A resolution to the same 
effect, but differing in words, was reported in the Senate 
by Mr. Sumner, but no action was taken on it until Con- 
gress reassembled after the holidays. 

We may mention also the attack made upon the Ad- 
ministration by Mr. H. Winter Davis, on the 15th of 
December, for its course in relation to Mexico, by offering, 
as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the 
following resolution : — 

Resolved, That Congress has a constitutional right to an authoritative 
voice in declaring and prescribing the foreign policy of the United States, 
as well in the recognition of new powers as in other matters, and it is the 
constitutional duty of the President to respect that policy, not less in 
diplomatic relations than in the use of the national forces when author- 
ized by law, and the propriety of any declaration of foreign policy by 
Congress is sufficiently proved by the vote which pronounces it ; and such 
proposition, while pending and undetermined, is not a fit topic of diplo- 
matic explanation with any foreign power. 

The House laid the resolution on the table by a vote of 
sixty-nine to sixty-three, whereupon Mr. Davis requested 
to be excused from further service on the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs ; his request was granted accordingly. 

Five days later, however, Mr. Davis renewed the attack, 
offering the same resolution, and this time with better suc- 
cess. The first branch of the resolution was adopted by 
a vole of one hundred and eighteen to eight, and the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 637 

second by a yote of sixty-eight to fifty-eight. No further 
action was taken by Congress in the matter, nor was it 
ever publicly referred to by the President. 

Congress adjourned on the 23d of December for the 
holidays. The Presidential reception on New Year s day 
was the occasion of a remarkable spectacle for Washing- 
ton, in the appearance of the colored people at the White 
House. They waited around the doors till the crowd of 
white visitors diminished, when they made bold to enter 
the hall. Some of them were richly dressed, while others 
wore the garb of poverty ; but alike intent on seeing the 
man who had set their nation free, they pressed forward, 
though with hesitation, into the presence of the President. 
Says an eye-witness — 

For nearly two hours Mr. Lincoln bad been shaking the hands of the 
"sovereigns," and had become excessively weary, and his grasp became 
Languid ; but here his nerves rallied at the unwonted sight, and be wel- 
comed this motley crowd with a heartiness that made them wild with ex- 
ceeding joy. They laugbed and wept, and wept and laughed, exclaiming, 
through their blinding tears, "God bless you!" "God bless Abraham 
Lincoln!" " God bress Massa Linkum!" 

The proceedings pending before the Canadian court, 
when Congress met, for the extradition of the St. Albans 
raiders, were brought to an unexpected termination on the 
13th of December, by the decision of Mr. Justice Coursol, 
by whom the case was heard, discharging the accused 
from custody on the alleged ground of want of jurisdic- 
tion. Not only were these men thus discharged, but 
the money which they had stolen from the banks was 
given up to them, under circumstances which cast 
great suspicion upon prominent members of the Cana 
dian Government. This result caused the most intense 
indignation throughout the States. General Dix, com- 
manding the Eastern Department, immediately issued 
an order referring to it, and directing all military com- 
manders on the frontiers, in case of any future raids, to 
shoot down the perpetrators; "or, if it be necessary, 
with a view to their capture, to cross the boundary 



G38 The Life, Public Services, and 

between the United States and Canada, said commanders 
are hereby directed to pursue them wherever they may 
find refuge, and if captured, they are under no circum- 
stances to be surrendered," &c, &c. This part of the 
order was, however, at once disapproved by the Ad- 
ministration, and General Dix accordingly modified his 
order so as to require that, before crossing the fron- 
tier, military commanders should report to him for 
orders. 

The prompt action of the Canadian Government, which 
at once caused the rearrest of such of the raiders as 
had not made their escape, and gave a cordial assistance 
to the new proceedings which were begun with a view 
to their extradition, tended somewhat to allay public 
feeling. But it was deemed advisable to take some 
measures of precaution along 'the frontier, and accord- 
ingly on the 17th of December an order was issued that 
no person should be allowed to enter the United States 
from a foreign country without a passport, except immi- 
grants coming directly in by sea. This order was made 
with especial reference to those coming into the United 
States from the British Provinces, and the people of 
Canada were excessively indignant at it, but found no 
remedy. 

Military affairs during this month made good progress. 
The call which had been made in July for five hundred 
thousand men, although it produced a good number of re- 
cruits, so that military operations had not suffered for lack 
of re-enforcements, yet had been in great measure filled 
by giving credits for men already put into the army or 
the navy. Accordingly, on the 19th of December, the 
President issued the following proclamation calling for 
two hundred thousand more men : — 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, by the act approved July 4, 18(14, entitled "An act far- 
ther to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out of the 
national forces and for other purposes," it is provided that the President 
of the United States may, at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for 
any number of men as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, or 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 639 

three rears of military service ; and that in case the quota or any part 
thereof of any town, township, -ward of a city, precinct, or election district, 
or of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of 
fifty days after such call, the President shall immediately order a draft 
for one year to fill such quota, or any part thereof which may be un- 
filed ; and whereas by the credits allowed in accordance with act of Con- 
gress on the call for five hundred thousand men made July 18, 1864, 
the number of men to be obtained was reduced to two hundred and 
eighty thousand ; and whereas the operations of the enemy in certain 
States have rendered it impracticable to procure from them their full 
quotas of troops under said call ; and whereas, from the foregoing causes, 
but two hundred and^ fifty thousand men have been put into the army, navy, 
and marine corps under the said call of July 18, 1S64, leaving a deficiency 
under the said call of two hundred and sixty thousand : Now, there- 
fore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, in 
order to supply the aforesaid deficiency, and to provide for casualties 
in the military and naval service of the United States, do issue this my 
call for three hundred thousand volunteers, to serve for one, two, or three 
years. 

The quotas of the States, districts, and sub-districts, under this call, 
will be assigned by the "War Department through the Provost-Marshal- 
General of the United States: and in case the quota, or any part thereof, 
of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct or election district, or of 
a county not so sub-divided, shall not be filled before the 15th day of 
February, 1865, then a draft shall be made to fill such quota, or any part 
thereof, under this call, which may be unfilled on the said 15th day of 
February, 1SG5. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this nineteenth dav of December, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 

[l. s.] four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty- 
ninth. Abraham Lincoln. 

By the President : Wm. LT. Seward, Secretary of State. 

Operations in the field continued to meet with great suc- 
cess. General Sherman, after an almost unobstructed march 
across the State of Georgia, burst through to the sea by 
the capture, on December 13th, of Fort McAllister, on the 
Ogeeehee River, whose fall opened communications for 
him with the fleet. Operations to assist him by an attack 
upon the line of railroad from Savannah to Charleston, 
had succeeded in retaining a heavy force of the rebels 
there, although there seems to have been little effort to 



640 The Life, Public Services, and 

concentrate forces to check Sherman's march. It threat- 
ened so many and so diverse points that the lebeJs were 
"bewildered and wereiiot able to make any successful re- 
sistance. General Hardee, who commanded in Savannah, 
determined not to await a siege, but, as .soon as Sherman 
began to get his guns in position, abandoned the city, 
crossing the Savannah Eiver at night on a pontoon bridge 
and making his escape, with about fifteen thousand men, 
into Sonth Carolina. Savannah, thus abandoned, surren- 
dered at once on the 21st of December to General Sherman, 
who on the 22d sent a dispatch to the President, present- 
ing to him " as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah with 
one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammuni- 
tion, and also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." 

The fall of Savannah was not the only success which 
made the month of December glorious. It was preceded 
by the three days' fight in front of Nashville, when Hood' s 
army was crushed by the attack of General Thomas, and 
that northward campaign, for the purpose of entering 
upon which he had left the way open for Sherman to 
pierce the very vitals of the Confederacy, and by which 
he had hoped in some degree to neutralize the value of 
Sherman's progress, was turned at once into utter de- 
struction. His losses during this brief campaign were 
estimated at more than twenty thousand men. 

Several expeditions were also sent out by our generals 
into various parts of the rebel territory — into Mississippi, 
the southwest parts of Virginia and North Carolina — which 
met with success, and inflicted great loss upon the rebels. 
In front of Petersburg General Grant still maintained 
his position. A heavy force under General Warren was 
sent out during the early part of the month in the 
direction of Weldon. The Weldon Railroad was thor- 
oughly destroyed nearly as far as Hicksford, and the ex- 
pedition returned without serious loss. The weather, 
which was extremely inclement, was the principal obstacle 
which they encountered. A far more important movement, 
however, was the attack upon Port Fisher, which com- 
manded the main entrance to the port of Wilmington, the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 641 

great head-quarters of blockade running. This expedi- 
tion sailed from Fortress Monroe on the 13th of Decem- 
ber. It consisted of a strong fleet under Rear-Admiral 
D. D. Porter, assisted by a land force under command of 
General Butler. A prominent feature of it was a vessel 
loaded with several hundred tons of powder, which it was 
intended to run ashore as near as possible to the fort and 
there explode. It was supposed, from the terrible effects 
caused by the accidental firing some months before of a 
magazine in England containing about that amount, that 
the explosion of so large a quantity of powder would 
entirely destroy or greatly damage the fort and utterly de- 
moralize the garrison. The vessels rendezvoused at Beau 
fort, Xortk Carolina, and thence sailed for Fort Fisher. 
But there seems to have been a lack of concert of action 
between the navy and the army. The powder boat 
was exploded before the army transports arrived, and 
whether the work was so imperfectly done that only a 
small portion of the powder was fired, or whether a dif- 
ference of circumstances led to a different result, it pro- 
duced little or no effect. A heavy bombardment by 
the lieet followed, lasting for a day and a half, under cover 
of which the troops were landed above the fort. An 
outlying battery was captured by them, but on a recon- 
noissance of the main works they were reported to be 
but little injured by the fire of the fleet, and too strong 
to be attacked by the force under General Butler's com- 
mand ; and he accordingly re-embarked and returned 
with them to Fortress Monroe, and the attack was aban- 
doned. 

The persistency of General Grant showed itself here, 
however, as it had done so many times before. He imme- 
diately sent a somewhat larger force, under the command 
of General Terry, to renew the attack. The fleet, which 
had replenished its magazines, renewed the bombardment 
more terribly than before, this time causing great injury 
to the works, and the troops were again landed for a second 
assault upon the fort, whose garrison had been in the mean 
time greatly strengthened. 

41 



642 The Life, Public Services, and 

The failure of the former assault had caused great vexa- 
tion and disgust throughout the country. It was thought 
that even if the forces were not heavy enough to make a 
successful assault, they might at least have maintained 
their ground on shore until a stronger force could he sent, 
and it was intimated pretty broadly that the assault should 
have been ordered. 

General Biitler was removed from the command of the 
Army of the James on the 8th of January. In his fare- 
well order he, on his part, assumed and asserted that his 
removal was because he had been too chary of the lives 
of his men. 

Great controversy arose on this point, and assumed at 
once a political aspect. General Butler was called before 
the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, 
and was in the very act of giving his testimony as to the 
facts and his reasons for judging an assault impracticable, 
when the news arrived of the capture of the fort on the 
night of the 15th bf January, after the most desperate as- 
sault of the war. This result put a stop to the contro- 
versy which was rising, and spread the greatest joy 
through the country, as it was at once seen that the result 
must be the closing of the only port which had remained 
open to the blockade runners, and the capture of Wilming- 
ton itself. The Richmond papers endeavored to make 
light of it, and spoke of it as a "blessing in disguise ;" but 
this deceived no one. It was felt that the last breathing- 
hole of the rebellion was closed, and that its power must 
speedily succumb between the mighty forces of the army 
which Grant held immovable before Petersburg and 
General Lee, and that other army which General Sher- 
man was already moving forward on its destructive march 
through South Carolina towards the rear of Richmond. 

The death of Edward Everett, which occurred on 
the day of the fall of Fort Fisher, was felt to be a 
great loss to the country. The patriotic position which 
he had taken at the beginning of the rebellion and 
steadily maintained, the uniform support which he had 
given to the Administration, lending even the weight of 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G43 

his name to the electoral ticket in Massachusetts, and his 
constant and valuable labors for the cause, fully justified 
the following order, issued at Washington on the receipt 
of the news of his death : — 

Department or State, Washington, Stinday, January 15. 
The President directs the undersigned to perform the painful duty of 
announcing to the people of the United States, that Edward Everett, 
distinguished not more by learning and eloquence than by unsurpassed 
and disinterested labors of patriotism at a period of political disorder, 
departed this life at four o'clock this morning. The several Executive 
Departments of the Government will cause appropriate honors to be 
rendered to the memory of the deceased, at home and abroad, wherever 
the national name and authority are recognized. 

(Signed) William H. Seward. 

The President referred to this death in some remarks 
which he made on the 24th of January, on the occasion 
of the presentation to him of a vase of skeleton leaves 
gathered on the battle-field of Gettysburg, which had 
been one of the ornaments of the Sanitary Fair at Phila- 
delphia. The chairman of the committee having pre- 
sented the gift, the President acknowledged its receipt as 
follows : — 

Reverend Sir, and Ladies and Gentlemen : — I accept with emotions 
of profoundest gratitude, the beautiful gift you have been pleased to pre- 
sent to me. You will, of course, expect that I acknowledge it. So much has 
been said about Gettysburg, and so well, that for me to attempt to say 
more may perhaps only serve to weaken the force of that which lias already 
been said. A most graceful and eloquent tribute was paid to the patriotism 
and self-denying labors of the American ladies, on the occasion of the con- 
secration of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, by our illustrfous friend, 
Edward Everett, now, alas ! departed from earth. His life was a truly 
great one, and I think the greatest part of it was that which crowned 
its closing years. I wish you to read, if you have not already done so, 
the eloquent and truthful words which he then spoke of the women of 
America. Truly, the services they have rendered to the defenders of our 
country in this perilous time, and are yet rendering, can never be esti- 
mated as they ought to be. For your kind wishes to me personally, I 
beg leave to render you likewise my sincerest thanks. I assure you they 
are reciprocated. And now, gentlemen and ladies, may God bless yoa 
all. 

Several important matters were brought before Con- 
gress during January. 



644 The Life, Public Services, and 

The Senate passed the House resolution requesting 
the President to give notice of the termination of the Re- 
ciprocity Treaty, but with amendments, in which the 
House concurred. 

The question of retaliation came up in the Senate, and 
after a lengthy debate a resolution passed the Senate, on 
the 31st of January, advising retaliation, but such as was 
conformable to the usages of war as practised among civ- 
ilized nations. 

Great excitement was aroused- in the House by a de- 
bate upon the conduct of General Butler in New Orleans, 
arising out of a speech by Mr. Brooks, of New York, in 
which he spoke of the General as "a gold robber." 
General Butler, hearing of this, sent one of his aids to 
Mr. Brooks with a letter, asking whether he was correctly 
reported, and whether there was any explanation, other 
than what appeared in the report, of his language, say- 
ing til at the bearer would call for his answer at any 
place or time he might designate. Mr. Brooks chose to 
regard this as a challenge, and therefore an invasion 
of his privileges as a member of the House, and he ac 
cordingly sought to bring it before that body. The 
Speaker decided that the letter was no invasion of privi- 
lege. Mr. Brooks appealed from the decision of the 
chair, and a heated debate followed, which was closed 
"by the withdrawal of the appeal. 

A very important resolution, reported by the Judiciary 
Committee, passed the House on the 30th of January, 
setting forth that as the local authorities of the States of 
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Flori- 
da, Alabama, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas had 
rebelled against the Government, and were in rebellion 
on the 9th of November, 1864, therefore, 

Resolved, That the States mentioned in the preamble to this resolution 
6hall not be entitled to representation in the Electoral College for the 
choice of' President and Vice-President of the United States, for the 
term of office commencing on the 4th of March next, and no electoral 
votes "shall be received or counted from those States. 

But by far the most important action which was taken 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 645 

during the whole session was the passage, on the 31st of 
January, of the resolution for the constitutional amend- 
ment prohibiting slavery. This resolution, as will be 
recollected, passed the Senate early in the previous session, 
but coming up in the House, it failed at that time to. receive 
the requisite two-thirds vote. A motion for a reconsid- 
eration was made and laid upon the table. It was taken 
from the table early in this session, and was debated at 
great length. It was very soon manifest that by the prog- 
ress of events the amendment had gained strength since 
the previous attempt to pass it. The debate was closed by 
a call for the previous question, for it was a subject on 
which debate could never be exhausted. The motion to re- 
consider was carried, by a vote of one hundred and twelve 
to fifty-seven. The question then recurred on the passage 
of the resolution, on which the vote was taken amid the 
deepest interest. The Speaker directed his own name to 
be called as a member of the House, and voted aye. His 
vote was received with loud applause, which he promptly 
checked ; and when the votes of several Democrats were 
given in favor of the resolution, they were also greeted 
with applause, and the hopes of the friends of the meas- 
ure rose, tor although two-thirds had not voted in favor 
of the reconsideration, it was manifest that the vote on 
the resolution was gaining in strength. When the vote 
was declared, and it was announced that the resolution 
was passed by a vote of one hundred and nineteen yeas 
to fifty-six nays, tumultuous applause broke forth, not 
only in the galleries, but also on the floor of the House, 
which immediately adjourned. 

The adoption of this amendment was hailed with uni- 
versal satisfaction. Those who had from the beginning 
regarded slavery as the cause of the rebellion, and had, 
therefore, made its extinction the indispensable condition 
of peace, saw in the action of Congress the fruition of 
their hopes and labors ; while the great body of the peo- 
ple, wearied by the protracted contest and satisfied that 
none but the extremest measures would bring it to a close, 
acquiesced in the prohibition of slavery as a legitimate 



G46 The Life, Public Services, and 

consequence of the rebellion, and as promising substan- 
tial compensation to the nation for the ravages of war. 

President Lincoln had regarded the passage of the 
amendment with special interest. He regarded it as cov- 
ering whatever defects a rigid construction of the Consti- 
tution might rind in his proclamation of emancipation, and 
as the only mode in which the perpetual prohibition of 
slavery could be placed beyond doubt or cavil. His view 
of the subject was indicated in the remarks which he ad- 
dressed to an enthusiastic crowd, which gathered before 
the executive mansion, on the evening of the adoption of 
the resolution, to congratulate him upon this auspicious 
triumph. In response to their calls, he said : — 

He supposed the passage through Congress of the constitutional amend- 
ment for the abolishing of slavery throughout the United States was the 
occasion to which he was indebted for the honor of this call. 

The occasion was one of congratulation to the country, and to the 
whole world. But there is a task yet before us — to go forward and con- 
summate by the votes of the States that which Congress so nobly began 
yesterday. (Applause and cries, "They will do it," &c.) He had the 
honor to inform those present that Illinois had already done the work. 
Maryland was about half through, but he felt proud that Illinois was a 
little ahead. 

He thought this measure was a very fitting if not an indispensable 
adjunct to the winding up of the great difficulty. He wished the 
reunion of all the States perfected, and so effected as to remove all 
causes of disturbance in the future; and, to attain this end, it was 
necessary that the original disturbing cause should, if possible, be root- 
ed out. He thought all would bear him witness that he had never 
shrunk from doing all that he could to eradicate slavery, by issuing an 
Emancipation Proclamation. But that proclamation falls short of what 
the amendment will be when fully consummated. A question might be 
raised whether the proclamation was legally valid. It might be added, 
that it only aided those who came into our lines, and that it was 
inoperative as to those who did not give themselves up; or that it 
would have no effect upon the children of the slaves born hereafter; in 
fact, it would be urged that it did not meet the evil. But this amend- 
ment is a king's cure for all evils. It winds the whole thing up. lie 
would repeat, that it was the fitting if not the indispensable adjunct to 
the consummation of the great game we are playing, he could not but 
congratulate all present — himself, the country, and the whole world — 
upon this great moral victory. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 647 

Tn addition to the general satisfaction felt by the whole 
country at the passage of this amendment, it carried, 
special joy to that very large class of people who had 
feared that the war might end without securing the aboli- 
tion of slavery. From the very beginning there had been 
a powerful pressure in favor of an adjustment with the 
discontented and rebellious South, and this had led, as 
we have already seen, to repeated attempts at negotiation 
on behalf of the contending forces. The organized 
authorities on either side maintained their attitude of 
mutual defiance ; but individuals on both sides kept up a 
steady and confident attempt, by personal effort, to bring 
the parties into such a position that they could not avoid 
negotiations for peace, without subjecting themselves to 
the injurious imputation of preferring war. It was re- 
membered that during our war with Mexico, while neither 
party sued for peace, and while both Governments repu- 
diated all thought of desiring it, peace was forced upon 
them by the unauthorized and irresponsible negotiations 
of a private citizen,* who secured from the Mexican Gov- 
ernment terms which the American authorities, out of 
deference to the sentiments of their own people, did not 
dare refuse. The incident was a perpetual stimulant to 
personal ambition, and the country was scarcely ever free, 
for a month at a time, from rumors of pending negotiations 
for a speedy peace. During the months of December and 
January these rumors had been especially rife, and had 
created a good deal of public anxiety. 

The whole country had come to regard the strength of 
the rebellion as substantially broken. In men, in re- 
sources of every kind, in modes of communication, and 
in the spirit with which the contest was carried on, the 
rebels were known to be rapidly and fatally failing ; and 
it was almost universally believed that a vigorous and 
steady prosecution of the war would speedily destroy the 
rebel organization, capture its capital, disperse its armies, 
and compel an absolute and unconditional submission to 

* Nicholas P. Trist 



G48 The Life, Public Services, and 

the national authority. It was not, therefore, without a 
good deal of solicitude that the public learned that Mr. 
Francis P. Blair, an able, resolute, and experienced poli- 
tician, had left Washington for Richmond, armed with a 
pass from President Lincoln, and that the real object of 
his visit was to prevail upon Jefferson Davis to send, or 
receive, commissioners to treat of peace between the con- 
tending parlies. The rumor proved to be substantially 
true. The President had given Mr. Blair a pass through 
our lines and back. He had gone to Richmond, and had 
held free conferences with Mr. Davis and other members 
of the Rebel Government. He returned to Washington 
on the 16th of January, bringing with him a written as- 
surance, addressed to himself, from Jefferson Davis, of 
his willingness to enter into negotiations for peace, to 
receive a commissioner whenever one should be sent, 
and of his readiness, whenever Mr. Blair could promise 
that he would be received, to appoint such a commis- 
sioner, minister, or other agent, and thus "renew the effort 
to enter into a conference with a view to secure peace be- 
tween the two countries." Mr. Blair presented this letter 
to President Lincoln, who at once authorized him to re- 
turn to Richmond, carrying with him his written assur- 
ance that he had constantly been, was then, and should con- 
tinue to be, " ready to receive any agent whom Mr. Davis, 
or any other influential person now resisting the national 
authority, may informally send me, with a view of secur- 
ing peace to the people of out common country" Mr. 
Blair left Washington on the 20th of January for Rich- 
mond, and on the next day placed in the hands of Mr. 
Davis this response of President Lincoln to his previous 
assurance ; and Mr. Davis then learned that commission- 
ers from him could be received to treat of peace, only on 
the assumption that the people of the United States still 
had one " common country," and not on the assumption, 
which Mr. Davis had advanced, that they were divided 
into two independent powers. 

Tn consequence of these communications, on the 29th 
of January, three persons, Alexander H. Stephens, R. M. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 640 

T. Hunter, and J. A. Campbell, made application to Gen- 
eral Ord, the commander of the advanced portion of the 
Army of the Potomac, for permission to enter our lines, 
and to proceed to Washington as peace commissioners. 
The application was referred to the President, who grant- 
ed permission for the three persons named to proceed to 
Fortress Monroe and there hold an informal conference, 
with some person or persons to be designated for that pur- 
pose, on the express condition that the peace proposed to be 
secured should be " for the people of our common coun- 
try." This response led the commissioners, on the 1st of 
February, to make an application directly to Lieutenant- 
General Grant for the permission they had solicited, viz., 
to go to Washington to confer with President Lincoln 
concerning peace on the basis of his letter to Mr. Blair, 
but " without any personal compromise on any question 
in the letter.' 1 Not anticipating such a proviso, which in 
effect waived entirely what he had laid down as the sine 
qua non of even an informal conference on the subject of 
peace, the President had on the 31st of January directed 
Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, to proceed to Fortress 
Monroe for the purpose of conferring with the three com- 
missioners. He was instructed to insist upon three things 
as indispensable : — 1. The restoration of the national au- 
thority throughout all the States. 2. No receding from 
the position of the National Executive on the subject of 
slavery. 3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end 
of the war and the disbanding of the forces hostile to the 
Government Upon this basis Mr. Seward was to hear 
■whatever the commissioners might have to say, and report 
it to the President ; but he was not to definitely consum- 
mate any thing. Under these instructions, Mr. Seward 
reached Fortress Monroe, where he arrived at ten o'clock 
on the evening of the 1st of February. Upon the receipt 
at the hands of Major Eckert, his messenger, of tin; terms 
in which the rebel commissioners had couched their request 
to General Grant for a conference, the President decided 
to recall the Secretary of State and terminate the attempted 
negotiation ; bat on the receipt of a dispatch from Gen- 



650 The Life, Public Services, and 

eral Grant, expressing his personal belief that the com- 
missioners were sincere in their desire for peace, and his 
strong conviction that a personal interview with them on 
the part of the President was highly desirable, President 
Lincoln changed his purpose and proceeded at once to 
Fortress Monroe, where he arrived on the evening of Feb- 
ruary 2d. A' letter from the three commissioners to 
Major Eckert was here shown to him, in which was em- 
bodied the note of their instructions from Mr. Davis, in 
which they were directed to confer concerning peace be- 
tween the ' ' two countries. ' ' But a subsequent note, ad- 
dressed by them to General Grant, declared their readiness 
to confer with the President upon the terms which he had 
prescribed, or any terms and conditions which he might 
propose, "not inconsistent with the essential principles 
of self-government and popular rights on which our in- 
stitutions are founded." They declared their earnest 
wish to ascertain, after a free interchange of ideas and 
information, upon what principles and terms, if any, a 
just and honorable peace might be secured without the 
further effusion of blood ; and they sought the conference 
for that purpose and with these views. 

On the morning of the 3d of February, President Lin- 
coln and Secretary Seward held a conference with the 
three commissioners of. several hours' duration. It ended 
without result. The most authentic statement of what 
occurred on that occasion is given in the following ex- 
tract from a dispatch immediately transmitted by the 
Secretary of State to Mr. Adams, our minister in Eng- 
land : — 

The Richmond party approached the discussion rather indirectly, and 
at no time did they make categorical demands, or tender formal stipula- 
tions or absolute refusals. Nevertheless, during the conference, which 
lasted four hours, the several points at issue between the Government and 
the insurgents were distinctly raised, and discussed fully, intelligently, and 
in an amicable spirit. What the insurgent party seemed chiefly to favor 
■was a postponement of the question of separation upon which the war ia 
waged, and a mntu.-d direction of the efforts of the Government, as well 
as those of the insurgents, to some extrinsic policy or scheme lor a sea- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 651' 

son, during which passions might he expected to subside, and the armies 
be reduced, and trade and intercourse between the people of the two sec- 
tions be resumed. It was suggested by them that through such postpone- 
ment we might now have immediate peace, with some not very certain 
prospect of an ultimate satisfactory adjustment of political relations be- 
tween the Government and the States, section, or people now engaged in 
conflict with it. 

The suggestion, though deliberately considered, was nevertheless re- 
garded by the President as one of armistice or truce, and he announced 
that we can agree to no cessation or suspension of hostilities, except on 
the basis of the disbandment of the insurgent forces and the recognition 
of the national authority throughout all the States in the Union. Collat- 
erally, and in subordination to the proposition which was thus announced, 
the anti-slavery policy of the United States was reviewed in all its bearings, 
and the President announced that he must not be expected to recede from 
the positions he had heretofore assumed in his Proclamation of Emancipa- 
tion, and other documents, as these positions were reiterated in his annual 
message. It was further declared by the President that the complete 
restoration of the national authority everywhere was an indispensable 
condition of any assent on our part to whatever form of peace might be 
proposed. The President assured the other party that while he must 
adhere to these positions, he would be prepared, so far as power is lodged 
with the Executive, to exercise liberality. Its power, however, is limited 
by the Constitution; and, when peace should be made, Congress must 
necessarily act in regard to appropriations of money, and to the admission 
of representatives from the insurrectionary States. 

The Richmond party were then informed that Congress had, on the 
Slst ult., adopted by a constitutional majority a joint resolution submit- 
ting to the several States the proposition to abolish slavery throughout 
the Union, and that there is every reason to expect that it will be accept- 
ed by three-fourths of the States, so as to become a part of the national 
organic law. 

The report of the conference and its results, made by 
the rebel authorities, is embodied in the following mes- 
sage from Jefferson Davis, which was sent in to the rebel 
Legislature on the 5th of February : — 

To the Seriate and House of Representatives of the Confederate States of 
America : 
Having recently received a written notification which satisfied me that 
the President of the United States was disposed to confer informally with 
uno!hoial agents that might be sent by me with a view to the restoration 
of 'peace, I requested Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, Hon. R. M. T. Hun- 
ter, and Hon. John A. Campbell to proceed through our lines to hold a 



652 The Life, Public Services, and 

conference with Mr. Lincoln, or such persons as he might depute to rep- 
resent him. 

I herewith submit, for the information of Congress, the report of the 
eminent citizens above named, showing that the enemy refuse to enter 
into negotiations with the Confederate States, or any one of them separately, 
or to give our people any other terms or guarantees than those which a 
conqueror may grant, or permit us to have peace on any other basis than 
our unconditional submission to their rule, coupled with the acceptance 
of their recent legislation, including an amendment to the Constitution 
for the emancipation of negro slaves, and with the right on the part of 
the Federal Congress to legislate on the subject of the relations between 
the white and black population of each State. 

Such is, as I understand, the effect of the amendment to the Constitution 
which has been adopted by the Congress of the United States. 

(Signed) Jeffebsoh Davis. 

Executive Office, Richmond, February 5, 1SG5. 

REPORT OF THE REBEL COMMISSIONERS. 

Richmond, Virginia, February 5, 1SC5. 
To the President of the Confederate States: 

Sir: — Under your letter of appointment of 28th ult., we proceeded to 
seek an iuformal conference with Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, upon the subject mentioned in your letter. 

The conference was granted, and took place on the 3d inst., on board a 
steamer anchored in Hampton Roads, where we met President Lincoln 
and Hop. Mr. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States. It con- 
tinued for several hours, and was both full and explicit. 

"We learned from them that the message of President Lincoln to the 
Congress of the United States in December last explains clearly and dis- 
tinctly his sentiments as to terms, conditions, and method of proceeding by 
■which peace can be secured to the people, and we were not informed that 
they would be modified or altered to obtain that end. We understood 
from him that no terms or proposals of any treaty or agreement looking 
to an ultimate settlement would be entertained or made by him with the 
authorities of the Confederate States, because that would be a recognition 
of thoir existence as a separate power, which under no circumstances 
would be done; and for like reasons, that no such terms would be enter- 
tained by him from States separately; that no extended truce or armistice, 
as at present advised, would be granted or allowed without satisfactory 
assurances in advance of complete restoration of the authority of the. Con- 
stitution and laws of the United State* over all places within the States of 
the Confederacy; that whatever consequences may follow from there-es- 
tatAishment of that authority must be accepted, but the individuals subject 
to pains and penalties under the laws of the United States might rely 
upon a very liberal use of the power confided to him to remit those pains 
*wd penalties, if peace be restored. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 653 

During the conference the proposed amendments to the Constitution of 
the United States, adopted by Congress on the 31st ult., were brought to 
our notice. These amendments provide that neither slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude, except for crime, should exist within the United States, or 
any place within their jurisdiction, and that Congress should have tho 
power to enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation. 

Of all the correspondence that preceded the conference herein mention 
ed and leading to the same, you have heretofore been informed. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servants, 

Alex. IT. Stephens, 
E. M. T. Hunter, 
J. A. Campbell. 

The public rumors which were current upon this sub- 
ject led to the adoption on the 8th, by the House of 
Representatives, of a resolution calling upon the Presi- 
dent for information concerning the conference. To this 
request President Lincoln responded on the 10th, by 
transmitting the following message :— 

Washington, February 10. 

To the Honorable the Uouse of Representatives : 

In response to your resolution of the 8th inst., requesting information 
in relation to a conference recently held in Hampton Roads, I have the 
honor to state that on the day of the date, I gave Francis P. Blair, Sr., a 
card written on as follows, to wit : — 

Allow the bearer, F. P. Blair, Sr., to pass our lines, go South, and 
return. A. Lincoln.' 

December 26, 1864. 

That at the time, I was informed that Mr. Blair sought the card as a 
means of getting to Richmond, Va., but he was given no authority to 
speak or act for the Government, nor was I informed of any thing he 
would say or do, on his own account or otherwise. Mr. Blair told me 
that he had been to Richmond, and had seen Mr. Jefferson Davis, and ho 
(Mr. Blair) at the same time left with me a manuscript letter as follows, 
to wit: — 

Richmond, Va., January 12, 1S65. 

F. P. Blair, Esq. : Sir : — I have deemed it proper, and probably desirable 
to you, to give you in this form the substance of the remarks made by 
me to be repeated by you to President Lincoln, &c, &c. 

I have no disposition to find obstacles in forms, and am willing now as 
heretofore to enter into negotiations for the restoration of peace. 

I am ready to send a commission, whenever I have reason to suppose 
it will be received, or to receive a commission, if the United States Gov- 
ernment shall choose to send one. 



654 The Life, Public Services, and 

Notwithstanding the rejection of our former offers, I would, if you 
could promise that a commissioner, minister, or other agent would be 
received, appoint one immediately, and renew the effort to enter into 
a conference with a view to secure peace to the two countries. 

Yours, &c, Jefferson Davis. 

Afterwards, with the view that it should be shown to Mr. Davis, I 
wrote, and delivered to Mr. Blair, a letter as follows, to wit : — 

Washington, January IS, 1SG5. 
F. P. Blaie, Esq. : Sir : — You having shown me Mr. Davis's letter to you 
of the 12th inst., you may say to him that I have constantly been, am 
now, and shall continue ready to receive any agent whom he, or any 
other influential person, now resisting the national authority, may 
informally send me, with a view of securing peace to the people of our 
common country. Yours, &c, A. Lincoln. 

Afterwards Mr. Blair dictated for and authorized me to make an entry, 
on the back of my retained copy of the letter last above recited, which 
is as follows: — 

January 2S, 1S65. 

To-day Mr. Blair tells me that on the 21st inst. he delivered to Mr. 
Davis the original, of which the within is a copy, and left it with him; 
that at the time of delivering, Mr. Davis read it over twice, in Mr. Blair's 
presence; at the close of which he (Mr. B.) remarked, that the part 
about our one common country referred to the part of Mr. Davis's letter 
about the two countries; to which Mr. D." replied that he so under- 
stood it. A. Lincoln. 

Afterwards the Secretary of War placed in my hands the following 
telegram, indorsed by him, as appears: — 

(Cipher.) 

Office U. S. Military Telegraph, "War Department. 

The following telegram was received at Washington, January 29, 
1865:— 

Head-Quarters Aemt of the James, 0.30 p. 11., January 29, 1SG5. 
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War : 

The following dispatch is just received from Major-General Parke, who 
refers to me for my action. I refer it to you, in lieu of General Grant's 
absence. E. 0. C. Oed, Major- General Commanding. 

Head-Quarters Army of the Potomac, 4 p. m., January 29, 1865. 

Major-General E. 0. 0. Ord, Head-Quarters of the Army of the. James: 

The following dispatch is forwarded to you for your action, since I 
have no knowledge of General Grant's having had any understanding of, 
this kind. 1 refer the matter to you as the ranking officer present in the 
two armies. John G. Parke, Major-General Commanding. 

From Head-Quarters Ninth Army Corps, January 29, 1SC5. 
Major-General JonN C. Parke, Head-Quarters of the Army of the Poto- 
mac : 
Alexander IL Stephens, R. M. T. Hunter, and J. A. Campbell desire to 
cross my lines, in accordance with an understanding claimed to exist with 



State Papers of Abraham- Lincoln. 655 

Lieutenant-General Grant, on their way to Washington as Peace Com- 
missioners. Shall they be admitted ? They desire an early answer, so as 
to come through immediately. They would like'to peach City Point to- 
night if they can. If they cannot do this, they would like to come through 
»t 1U a. ii. to-morrow. 

O. B. Wilcox, Major- General Commanding Xlntlt Corps. 

Respectfully referred to the President, for such instructions as he may 
De pleased to give. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

Jan. 29th, 1805—8.30 p. m. 

It appears that about the time of placing the foregoing telegram in 
my hands, the Secretary of War dispatched General Ord as follows, to 
wit: — 

"War Department, Washington City, January 29, 1865 — 10 p. m. 
Mnjor-General Ord : — This department has no knowledge of any under- 
standing by General Grant to allow any person to come within his lines 
as commissioners of any sort. You will therefore allow no one to come 
into your lines under such character or profession until you receive the 
President's instructions, to whom your telegrams will be submitted for 
his directions. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 
(Sent in cipher at 2 a. m.) 

Afterwards, by my directions, the Secretary of War telegraphed Gen- 
eral Ord as follows, to wit: — 

War DcrAr.TMF.NT, Washington City, D. C, 1 
January yo, lsiio — 10 a. m. 

Major-General E. 0. C. Ord, ITead-Quarters Army of the James: 

By directions of the President, you are instructed to inform the three 
gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, that a messenger will 
be dispatched to them, at or near where they now are, without unneces- 
sary delay. Edwin M. Stanton, 

Seen tary of War. 

Afterwards I prepared and put into the hands of Major Thomas T. 
Eckert the following instructions and message: — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 30, 1S65. 

Major T. T. Eokekt: 

Sir: — You will proceed with the documents placed in your hands, and 
on reaching General Ord, will deliver him the letter addressed him by 
the Secretary of War. Then, by General Ord's assistance, procure an 
interview with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, or any of them. 
Deliver to him or them the paper on which your own letter is written- 
Note on the copy which you retain the time of delivery, and to whom 
delivered. Receive their answer in writing, waiting a reasonable time 
for it, and which, if it contains their decision to come through without 
further conditions, will be your warrant to ask General Ord to pass them 
through as directed in the letter of the Secretary of War. If. by their 
answer, they decline to come or propose other terms, do not have them 
passed through. And this being your whole duty, return and report to 
qie. Yours truly, 

A. LlNCOLX. 



656 The Life, Public Services, and 

Messrs. Alexander H. Stephens, J. A. Campbell, and R. M. T. LTuntes* 
Gentlemen : — I am instructed by the President of the United States to 
place this paper in your hands, with the information that if you pass 
through the United States military lines, it will be understood that you do 
so for the purpose of an informal conference on the basis of that letter, a 
copy of which is on the reverse side of this sheet ; and if you choose to pass 
on such understanding, and so notify me in writing, I will procure the 
Commanding General to pass you through the lines and to Fortress Mon- 
roe, under such military precautions as he may deem prudent, and at which 
place you will be met in due time by some person or persons for the pur- 
pose of such informal conference. And further, that you shall have pro- 
tection, safe-conduct, and safe return in all events. 

Thos. T. Eokert, Major and Aide-de- Camp. 
City Point, Virginia, February 1, 1SG5. 

The letter referred to by Major Eckert: — ■ 
F. P. Blair, Esq. : 

Sir: — You having shown me Mr. Davis's letter to you of the 12th inst., 
you may say to him that I have constantly been, am now, and shall con- 
tinue ready to receive any agent whom he, or any other influential per- 
son now resisting the national authority, may informally send to me with 
the view of securing peace to the people of our common country. 

Yours, &c, A. Lincoln. 

Afterwards, but before Major Eckert had departed, the following dispatch 
was received from General Grant: — 

Office U. S. Military Telegraph, War Departme>t. 

[Cipher.] 

The following telegram was received at Washington, January 31, 1865, 
from City Point, Virginia, 10.30 a. m., January 31, 1805: — 

His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States : 
The following communication was received here last evening: — 

Petersburg, Virginia, January 30, 1S65. 

Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant, Commanding Armies U. S. : 

Sir: — We desire to pass your lines under safe-conduct, and to proceed 
to Washington to hold a conference with President Lincoln upon the sub- 
ject of the existing war, and with a view of ascertaining upon what terms 
it may be terminated, in pursuance of the course indicated by him in his 
letter to Mr. Blair of January 18, 1805, of which we presume you have a 
copy ; and if not, we wish to see you in person, if convenient, and to confer 
with you on the subject. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Alexander IT. Stephens, 
i J. A. Campbell, 

K. M. T. Hunter. 

I have sent directions to receive these gentlemen, and expect to have 
thorn at my quarters this evening awaiting your instructions. 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant- General Commanding Armies U.S. 



Stats Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 657 

This, it will be perceived, transferred General Ord's agency in the matlor 
to General Grant I resolved, however, to send Major Eckert forward 
with his message, and accordingly telegraphed General Grant as follows, 
to wit : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 81, 1SC5. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Virginia: 

A messenger is coming to you on the business contained in your dis 
patch. Detain the gentlemen in comfortable quarters until he arrives, 
and then act upon the message he brings as far as applicable, it having bcon 
made up to pass through General Ord's hands, and when the gentlemen 
were supposed to be beyond our lines. 

[Sent in cipher at 1.30 v. m.] A. Lincoln. 

"When Major Eckert departed he bore with him a letter of the Secretary 
of AVar to General Grant, as follows, to wit: — 

War Department, Washington, D. C, January 30, 1865. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, Commanding, &c. : 

General: — The President desires that you will please procure for the 
bearer, Major Thos. T. Eckert, an interview with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, 
and Campbell ; and if on his return to you he requests it, pass them through 
our lines to Fortress Monroe, by such route and under such military pre- 
cautions as you may deem prudent, giving them protection and comfort- 
able quarters while there ; and that you let none of this have any effect 
upon your movements or plans. 
By order of the President : 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

Supposing the proper point to be then reached, I dispatched the Secre- 
tary of State with the following instructions — Major Eckert, however, 
going ahead of him : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, January 81, 1SC5. 
Honorable William H. Seward, Secretary of State : 

You will proceed to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, there to meet and for- 
mally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis of 
my letter to F. P. Blair. Esq., of January 18, 1865, a copy of which you 
have. You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to 
wit: First, the restoration of the national authority throughout all the States. 
Second, no receding by the Executive of the United States on the slavery 
question from the position assumed thereon in the late annual message to 
Congress and in the preceding documents. Third, no cessation of hostilities 
short of an end of the war, and the disbanding of all th« forces hostile to 
the Government. You will inform them that all the propositions of theirs 
not inconsistent with the above will lie considered and passed upon in a 
spirit of sincere liberality. You will hear all they may choose to say. and 
report it to me. You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing. 
Yours, &c, Abbaham Lincoln. 

On the day of its date, the following telegram was sent to General 
Grant: — 

42 



G5S The Life, Public Services, and 



War Department, Washington, February 1, 1S05. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, Va. : 

Let nothing which is transpiring change, hinder, or delay your military 
movements or plans. 

[Sent in cipher at 9.30 a. m.] A. Lincoln. 

Afterwards the following dispatch was received from Genera 1 Grant: — 

[In cipher.] 
Office U. 8. Military TELECRArn, War Department. 

The following telegram was received at Washington, at 2.30 p.m., 
February 1, 1805, from City Point'Va., February 1, 12.30 r. m., 18G5 : — 

His Excellency A. Lincoln, 

President of the United States : 
Tuur dispatch received. There will be no armistice in consequence of 
the presence of Mr. Stephens and others within our lines. The troops are 
kept in readiness to move at the shortest notice, if occasion should justify 
it. U. S. Grant, Lieut.- General. 

To notify Major Eckert that the Secretary of State would be at Fortress 
Monroe, and to put them in communicatioa, the following dispatch was 
eent : — 

Waji Department, Washington, February 1, 1SC5. 

Major T. T. Eckert, 

Care General Grant, City Point, Va. : 
Call at Fortress Monroe, and put yourself under direction of Mr. S., 
whom you will find there. A. Lincoln. 

On the morning of the 2d instant, the following telegrams were received 
by me respectively from the Secretary of War and Major Eckert: — 

Tort Monboe, Va., February 1, 1SGD — 11.30 p. m. 

To the President of the United States : 

Arrived at ten this evening. Richmond friends not here. I remain 
here. W. II. Seward. 

City Point, Va., February 1, 1SG5 — 10 p. m. 

To his Excellency the President of the United States: 

I have the honor to report the delivery of your communication and my 
letter, at 4.15 this afternoon, to which I received a reply at six p. m., 
but not satisfactory. At eight o'clock p. m. the following note, addressed 
to General Grant, was received : — 

City Point, Va., February 1, 1SG5. 
To Lieutenant-General Grant: 

g m: — We desire to go to Washington City to confer informally with the President personally 
in reference to the matters mentioned in his letter to Mr. Blair of the ISth of January ultima 
without any personal compromise on any question in the letter We have the permission to do 
bo from the authorities at Richmond. 

Very respectfully yours, Alex. II. Stephen* 

E. M. T. IIuntss, 

J. A. CAHHU1U.U 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. C59 

At 9.30 p. m. I notified them that they could not proceed further 
unless they complied with the terms expressed in my letter. The point 
of meeting designated in the above note Would not, in my opinion, 
be insisted upon. Fort Monroe would be acceptable. Having complied 
with my instructions, I will return to Washington to-morrow, unless 
otherwise ordered. Tuoxias t. Eckeet, Major, &c. 

On reading this dispatch of Major Eckert, I was about to recall him and 
the Secretary of State, when the following telegram of General Grant to 
the Secretary of War was shown me : — 

[In cipher.] 

Office of the U. S. Militart Telegraph, I 
War Department. ) 

The following telegram received at Washington at 4.35 p. m., Feb- 
ruary 2, 1865, from City Point, Va., February 1,' 10.30 p. m., 1805 :— 

Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 

Now that the interview between Major Eckert, under his written in- 
structions, and Mr. Stephens and party, has ended, I will state confiden- 
tially, but not officially to become a matter of record, that I am convinced, 
upon conversation with Messrs. Stephens and Hunter, that their intentions 
are good, and their desire sincere to restore peace and union. I have not 
felt myself at liberty to express even views of my own, or to account for 
my reticence. This has placed me in an awkward position, which I could 
have avoided by not seeing them in the first instance. I fear now their 
going back without any expression to any one in authority will have a 
bad influence. At the same time, I recognize the difficulties in the way 
of receiving these informal commissioners at this time, and I do not know 
what to recommend. I am sorry, however, that Mr. Lincoln cannot have 
an interview with the two named in this dispatch, if not all three now 
within our lines. Their letter to me was all that the President's instruc- 
tions contemplated to secure their safe-conduct, if they had used the 
same language to Major Eckert. U. S. Geaxt, Lieut.- General. 

This dispatch of General Grant changed my purpose, and accordingly I 
telegraphed him and the Secretary of War* as follows : — 

War Department, Washington, D. C, February 2, 1S65. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, City Point, A'a. : 

Say to the gentlemen that I will meet them personally at Fortress 
Monroe, as soon as I can get there. 

[Sent in cipher at 9 a. m.] A. Lincoln. 

War Department, Washington, D. C, February 2, 1SC5. 

Hon. War. H. Seward, Fortress Monroe, Va. : 

Induced by a dispatch from General Grant, I join you at Fortress 
Monroe as soon as I can come. 

[Sent in cipher at 9 a. m.] A. Lincoln. 

Before starting, the following dispatch was shown me. I proceeded, 
nevertheless : — 

[Cipher.] 

Office U. S. Military Telegraph, War Department. 

The following telegram, received at Washington, February 2, 1865, 
from City Point, Va., 9 a. m., February 2, 1865 : — 

to 



6 GO The Life, Public Services, and 

Hon. "Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

[Copy.] 

FoUT MONROE. 

To Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, 

Secretary of "War, Washington : 
The gentlemen here have accepted the proposed terms, and will leavo 
for Fortress Monroe at 9.30 a. m. 

U. S. Grant, Lieut.- General. 

On the night of the 2d I reached Hampton Roads; found the Secretary 
of State and Major Eckert on a steamer anchored off the shore, and learned 
of them that the Richmond gentlemen were on another steamer, also an- 
chored off shore in the Roads, and that the Secretary of State had not yet 
seen or communicated with them. I ascertained that Major Eckert had 
literally complied with his instructions, and 1 saw for the first time the 
answer of the Richmond gentlemen to him, which, in his dispatch to me 
of the 1st, he characterized as not satisfactory. That answer is as follows, 
to wit: — 

City Point, Va., February 1, 1SG5. 

Thomas T. Eckert, Major and A. D. C. : 

Major: — Your note delivered by yourself this day has been considered. 
In reply, we have to say that we were furnished with a copy of the letter 
of President Lincoln to Francis P. Blair, of the 18th of January ult., 
another copy of which is appended to your note. Our instructions are 
contained in a letter of which the following is a copy : — 

Richmond, January 28, 1S65. 
In conformity with the letter of Mr. Lincoln, of which the foregoing is a copy, yon are to pro- 
ceed to Washington City for infurinal conference with him upon the issues involved in the ex- 
isting war, and for the purpose of securing peace to the two countries. 

With great respect, your obedient servant, 

Jefferson Davis. 

The substantial object to be obtained by the informal conference, is to 
ascertain upon what terms the existing war can be terminated honorably. 
Our instructions contemplate a personal interview between President 
Lincoln and ourselves at Washington; but, with this explanation, we are 
ready to meet any person or persons that President Lincoln may appoint, 
at such place as he may designate. Our earnest desire is that a just and 
honorable peace may be agreed upon, and we are prepared to receive or 
to submit propositions which may possibly lead to the attainment of that 
end. 

Very respectfully yours, 

Alexander H. Stephens, 
It. M. T. Hunter, 
Joun A. Campbell. 

A note of these gentlemen, subsequently addressed to General Grant, 
has already been given in Major Eckert's dispatch of the 1st inst. I also 
saw here for the first time the following note, addressed by the Richmond 
gentlemen to Ma^or Eckert: — 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. CGI 

City Point, Va., February 2, 1SC5. 

Thomas T. Eckert, Major and A. D. C. : 

Major : — In reply to your verbal statement that your instructions did not 
allo^v you to alter the conditions upon which a passport could be given 
to us, we say that we are willing to proceed to Fortress Monroe, and there 
to have an informal conference with any person or persons lli.it President 
Lincoln may appoint on the basis of his letter to Francis P. Blair of the 
18th of January ult., or upon any other terms or conditions that he may 
hereafter propose, not inconsistent with the essential principles of 
government and popular rights upon which our institutions are founded. 
It is our earnest wish to ascertain, after a free interchange of ideas and 
information, upon what principles and terms, if any, a just and honorable 
peace can be established without the effusion of blood, and to contribute 
our utmost efforts to accomplish such a result. We think it better to add 
that, in accepting your passport, Ave are not to be understood as commit- 
ting ourselves to any thing, but to carry into this informal conference the 
views and feelings above expressed. 

Very respectfully yours, &c, 

Alexander II. Stephens, 
J. A. Campbell, 
R. M. T. IU-xter. 

Xote. — The above communication was delivered to me at Fortress 
Monroe, at 4.30 p. m., February 2, by Lieutenant-Colonel Babcock, of 
General Grant's staff. 

Thomas T. Eckert, Adft and A. D. C. 

On the morning of the 3d, the three gentlemen, Messrs. Stephens, Hun- 
ter, and Campbell, came aboard of our steamer, and had an interview 
with the Secretary of State and myself of several hours' duration. Xo 
question or preliminaries to the meeting was then and there made or 
mentioned. Xo other person was present. Xo papers were excha 1 
or produced ; and it was in advance agreed that the conversation was to 
be informal and verbal merely. On our part, the whole substance of the 
instructions to the "Secretary of State, hereinbefore recited, was stated 
and insisted upon, and nothing was said inconsistent therewith. While 
by the other party it was not said that in any event, or on any condition, 
they ever would consent to reunion; and yet they equally omitted to 
declare that they would not so consent. They seemed to desire a 
postponement of that question, and the adoption of some other corn-so 
first, which, as some of them seemed to argue, might or might not lead 
to reunion, but which course we thought would amount to an indefinite 
postponement. The conference ended without result. 

The foregoing, containing, as is believed, all the information sought, is 
respectfully submitted. Abraham Lincoln. 

In this instance, as in the previous case of Mr. Greeley, 
the President had found himself constrained by the intru- 
sive interference of an individual citizen, to open negotia- 
tions for which, in Ms judgment, neither the rebels nor 



G62 The Life, Public Services, and 

the nation at large were at all prepared. No man in the 
country was more vigilant than he in watching for the 
moment when hopes of peace might wisely be entertained ; 
but, as he had resolved under no circumstances to acdept 
any thing short of an unconditional acknowledgment of 
the supreme authority of the Constitution and laws of 
the United States as the "basis of peace, he deemed it of 
the utmost consequence that the rebel authorities should 
not be led to suppose that Ave were discouraged by the 
slow progress of the war, or that we were in the least 
inclined to treat for peace on any other terms than those 
lie had laid down. It was for this reason that he had 
declined to publish his correspondence with Mr. Greeley, 
unless expressions in the latter' s letters, calculated to 
create this impression in the rebel States, could be omitted. 
Acting from the same motives, he had given Mr. Blair no 
authority to approach the rebel authorities on his behalf 
upon the subject of peace in any way whatever. He 
gave him, to use his own words uttered in a subsequent 
conversation, "no mission, but only jpdr-mission." He 
was probably not unwilling to learn, from so acute and 
experienced a political observer as Mr. Blair, something 
of the temper and purpose of the leading men in the 
Rebel Government, for their public declarations upon this 
subject were not felt to be altogether reliable; and the 
knowledge we had of their straitened means, and of the 
difficulty they experienced in renewing the heavy losses 
in the ranks of their army, strengthened the belief that 
they might not be indisposed for submission to the national 
authority. 

Subsequent disclosures have proved the correctness of 
these suspicions. It is now known that some of the more 
sagacious and candid of the rebel leaders had even then 
abandoned all hope of success, and were only solicitous 
for some way of closing the war, which should not wound 
too keenly the pride and self-respect of the people of the 
rebel States. It was due to their efforts that, in spite of 
the obstinacy with which Jefferson Davis insisted upon 
the recognition of his official character, involving the rec- 



State Paters of Abraham Lincoln. GG3 

ognitiou of the South as an independent nation, an inter- 
view with the President and Secretary Seward was ob- 
tained. But they did not secure the consent of their Ex- 
ecutive to negotiate upon the only "basis which Mr. Lin- 
coln would for a moment admit — the absolute and 
acknowledged supremacy of the National Government ; 
and the whole scheme, therefore, fell to the ground.* 

The attempt at negotiation, however, served a useful 
purpose. It renewed the confidence of the people 
throughout the loyal States in the President's unalterable 
determination to maintain the Union, while it proved his 
willingness to end the war whenever that great and para- 
mount object could be secured ; and, at the same time, it 
dispelled the delusive hopes, with which the rebel lead- 
ers had so long inspired the hearts of the great body of 
the Southern people, that peace was possible with the in- 
dependence of the Southern States. The attempt of Mr. 
Davis, in the message Ave have already cited, f to "fire 
the Southern heart" afresh, by his vivid picture of the 
tyrannical and insulting exactions of President Lincoln, 
was utterly fruitless. His appeals fell upon wearied ears 
and despondent hearts. 

Other important affairs had also arisen to occupy the 

* Since the overthrow of the rebellion an account of this conference has 
been published in the Augusta ( Ga.) Chronicle, said to have been prepared under 
the supervision of Mr. A. H. Stephens. It adds nothing material to the facts 
already known, but the following paragraphs are not without interest : — 

"Davis had on this occasion, as on that of Mr. Stephens's visit to Washington, made it a 
condition that no conference should be had unless his rank as commander or President should 
first be recognized. Mr. Lincoln declared that the only ground upon which he could rest tho 
justice of the war — either with his own people or with foreign powers — was, that it \v:is not 
a war for conquest, but that the States never had been separated from the Union. I 
quently, he could not recognize another government inside of the one of which he alone was 
President, nor admit the separate independence of States that were yet a part of the Union. 
'That,' said he, 'would be doing what you so long asked Europe to do in vain, and be resigning 
the only thing the armies of the Union are fighting for.' 

" Mr. Hunter made a long reply, insisting that the recognition of Davis's power te make a 
treaty was the first and indispensable step to peace, and referring to the correspondence between 
King Charles the First and his Parliament as a reliable precedent of a constitutional ruler treat- 
ing with rebels. 

" Mr. Lincoln's face then wore that indescribable expression which generally preceded his hard- 
est hits, and he remarked : 'Upon questions of history I must refer you to Mr. Sewar.1, for he 
is posted in such things, and I don't profess to be. But my only distinct recollection oi tho 
matter is, that Charles lost his head.' That settled Mr. Hunter for a while." 

f Page 578. 



G64 The Life, Puelic Services, and 

thoughts of tlie people during tlie pendency of the peace 
negotiations. The resolution which had passed the House 
on January 31st, directing that the electoral votes of cer- 
tain States which had joined the rebellion should not 
"be counted, came up before the Senate. An effort was 
made, but failed, to strike out Louisiana from tlie list of 
the rejected States. Other amendments were offered, but 
rejected, and the resolution was adopted as it passed the 
House. It was also signed by the President, but he sent 
to Congress the following message concerning it : — 

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the United States : 

The joint resolution, entitled " A joint resolution declaring certain States 
not entitled to representation in the Electoral College," has heen signed 
by the Executive in deference to the view of Congress implied in its pas- 
sage and presentation to me. In his own view, however, the two Ileuses 
of Congress convened under the twelfth article of the Constitution have 
complete power to exclude from counting all electoral votes deemed by 
them to be illegal, and it is not competent for the Executive to defeat or 
obstruct the power by a veto, as would be the case if his action were at 
all essential in the matter. lie disclaims all right of the Executive to in- 
terfere in any way in the matter of canvassing or counting the electoral 
votes, and he also disclaims that by signing said resolution he has expressed 
any opinion on the recitals of the preamble, or any judgment of his own 
upon the subject of the resolution. Abraham Lincoln. 

Executive Mansion, February 8, 1865. 

On Wednesday, the 8th of February, the Senate and the 
House met in joint convention for the purpose of count- 
ing the electoral votes. The two bodies having convened, 
the certificates of election were opened by Vice-President 
Hamlin. Electoral votes from Louisiana and Tennessee 
were presented, but, in obedience to the resolution just 
mentioned, they were not counted. The total number of 
votes counted was two hundred and thirty-three, of which 
Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Johnson had received two hundred 
and twelve, and they were accordingly declared to have 
been elected President and Vice-President for the ensuing 
four years, commencing on the 4th of March. The new 
State of Nevada had cast but two votes, her third elector 
having been absent on the day of the meeting. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. GG5 

Prominent among the measures passed by Congress du- 
ring the remainder of the session was the "bill establishing 
a Freedmen's Bureau. 

A resolution offered by Mr. Sumner, and passed, excited 
a good deal of interest in England. It declared that the 
rebel debt or loan was " simply an agency of the rebel- 
lion, which the United States can never under any cir- 
cumstances recognize in any part, or in any way." To 
the parties who had taken the rebel loan thinking that 
the South was sure tj succeed, or at least to secure some 
terms of peace which would provide for the assumption 
of the rebel debt, this resolution, coining as it did after 
such great military successes on our part, was the re- 
verse of cheering. 

Two messages were sent to Congress by the President 
in reference to approaching International Exhibitions in 
Norway and in Portugal, and a resolution was passed re- 
questing the President to call upon the citizens to join in 
them. 

The House passed a bill repealing so much of the Con- 
fiscation Act passed July 17, 1862, 244, as prohibited the 
forfeiture of the real estate of rebels be}*ond their natural 
lives. But the Senate failed to take similar action, and 
the law, therefore, remained unchanged. 

Resolutions were reported to the Senate by the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs, that soldiers discharged for 
sickness or wounds should be preferred for appointment 
to civil offices, and recommending citizens generally to 
give them a similar preference in their private business. 
The President was in full sympathy with the feeling which 
led to this action, as appears by the following order, 
which he made for the appointment of a Mrs. Buslmell 
as postmistress at Sterling, Illinois : — 

Mr. Washbnrne lias presented to me all the papers in this case, and 
finding Mrs. Buslmell as well recommended as any other, and she being 
the widow of a soldier who fell in battle for the Union, let her bo ap- 
pointed. A. Lincoln. 

The question of the recognition of the State Govern- 
ments in, and the admission of Senators and Representa- 



G66 The Life, Public Services, and 

tives from, Louisiana and Arkansas was "brought up in both 
Houses, "but was not pressed to a vote, though reports 
were made in favor of such recognition and admission. 

The Tariff Bill was modified, a "bill for a loan of $600,- 
000,000 was passed, with many other "bills of less impor- 
tance, and on the 3d of March Congress adjourned sine die. 

The Senate, however, was at once convened in extra 
session, by a proclamation issued "by the President on 
February 17th, as follows : — 

Department of State. 

PROCLAMATION. 
By the President of the United States. 
WJicrcas, objects of interest to the United States require that the Senate 
sTiould be convened at twelve o'clock on the 4th of March next, to re- 
ceive and act upon such communications as may be made to it on the part 
of the Executive : 

Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
have considered it to be my duty to issue my proclamation, declaring that 
an extraordinary occasion requires the Senate of the United States to con- 
vene for the transaction of business at the Capitol, in the City of Wash- 
ington, on the 4th day of March next, at noon on that day, of which all 
who shall at that time be entitled to act as members of that body, are 
hereby required to take notice. 

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at Washing- 
ton, this seventeenth day of February, in the year of our Lord 
[l. s.] one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the independ- 
ence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President: 

Wm. II. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 

The military operations during February continued to 
furnish cheering successes. The peace conference had 
not been suffered to interfere in the least with military 
movements. The rebel commissioners were hardiy within 
their lines before General Grant made another movement, 
taking and holding, though not without severe loss, 
another of the roads leading southwardly out of Peters- 
burg, called the Vaughan Road, and giving our troojis 
command of yet another called the Boydton Plankroad. 
A very encouraging symptom of the situation was the 
increasing number of desertions from the rebel ranks, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 667 

by which General Lee' s army was steadily and seriously 
diminishing. 

Our own forces meanwhile were "being continually aug- 
mented "by new recruits, which were rapidly obtained, by 
the strong exertions made in every district to avoid a 
draft. Many questions arose and had to be decided by 
the President in reference to the draft. The following 
letter from him to Governor Smith, of Vermont, was called 
forth by complaints that its burdens w^re not equally 
distributed : — 

Executive Mansion, Washington, February 8, 1SG5. 
His Excellency Governor Smitii, of Vermont : 

Complaint is made to me, by Vermont, that the assignment of her 
quota for the draft on the pending call is intrinsically unjust, and also in 
bad faith of the Government's promise to fairly allow credits for men 
previously furnished. To illustrate, a supposed case is stated as fol- 
lows: — 

Vermont and New Hampshire must between them furnish sis thousand 
men on the pending call ; and being equal, each must furnish as many as 
the other in the long run. But the Government finds that on former calls 
Vermont furnished a surplus of five hundred, and New Hampshire a sur- 
plus of fifteen hundred. These two surpluses making two thousand, and 
added to the six thousand, making eight thousand to be furnished by the 
two States, or four thousand each, less by fair credits. Then subtract 
Vermont's surplus of five hundred from her four thousand, leaves three 
thousand five hundred as her quota on the pending call ; and likewise 
subtract New Hampshire's surplus of fifteen hundred from her four thou- 
sand, leaves two thousand five hundred as her qiiota on the pending call. 
These three thousand five hundred and two thousand five hundred mako 
precisely six thousand, which the supposed case requires from the two 
States, and it is just equal for Vermont to furnish one thousand moro 
now than New Hampshire, because New Hampshire has heretofore fur- 
nished one thousand more than Vermont, which equalizes the burdens 
of the two in the long run. And this result, so far from being bad faith 
to A'ermont, is indispensable to keeping good faith with New Hampshire. 
By no other result can the six thousand men be obtained from tho two 
States, and at the same time deal justly and keep faith with both, and wo 
do but confuse ourselves in questioning the process by which the right 
result is reached. The supposed case is perfect as an illustration. 

The pending call is not for three hundred thousand men subject to fair 

credits, but is for three hundred thousand remaining after all fair credits 
... *» 

have been deducted, and it is impossible to concede what Vermont asks 

without coming out short of three hundred thousand men, or making 

other localities pay for the partiality shown her. 



668 The Life, Public Services, and 

This upon the case stated. If there he different reasons for making an 
allowance to Vermont, let them be presented and considered. 

Yours truly, Abraham Lincoln'. 

The success at Fort Fisher was abfy followed up "by 
General Terry. One by one the rebel forts on the Cape 
Fear Elver fell into our hands, and on the 22d of Febru- 
ary Wilmington was evacuated, and was occupied by our 
troops without a struggle. 

Heavy cavalry expeditions were prepared and sent out 
through the Southwest, in different directions, and made 
good progress. But the crowning glory of the month 
was the success of Sherman's march through South Caro- 
lina. Starting from Savannah, he moved northwest 
through swamps which were thought impassable for an 
army, forced the line of the Salkehatchie River, pressed 
on into the heart of the State, and on the 17th entered 
Columbia, the capital of the State, without a battle. His 
presence there made the evacuation of Charleston a neces- 
sity, 'and on the next day our forces entered its grass- 
grown streets, and the old flag floated again from Fort Sum- 
ter, from which, four years before, it had been traitorously 
torn down. Sherman' s progress northward, continued to 
be rapid, but hardly any thing that he could do could 
give so much joy as the fall of that nest of treason had 
given. Coming, as it did, just before the 22d of Febru- 
ary, it made the celebration of Washington's birthday 
one of great rejoicing. The public buildings in Wash- 
ington were illuminated, and all over the country it was 
a day of joy and gladness of heart. 

It was not the military successes alone which made the 
people glad : a general system of exchanging prisoners 
had been at last agreed upon, and our poor fellows were 
rapidly coming forward out of those hells on earth, in 
which the rebel authorities had kept them. 

In fact, all things seemed auspicious for the future. 
The close of President's Lincoln's first Administration 
was brilliant in itself, and gave full promise of yet 
brighter things to come. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 609 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CLOSE OF THE REBELLION. 

The Inaugural Address. — Proclamation to Deserters. — Speeches bi 
the President. — Destruction of Lee's Army. — The President's 
Visit to Richmond. — Return to Washington. — Close of the War. 

It seems hardly credible that four years should em- 
brace within their narrow limit so immense a change 
as the four years of Mr. Lincoln's first Administration had 
"brought to the country and to himself. When, on the 4th 
of March, 1861, he took the oath of office, administered 
to him by Chief-Justice Taney, the horizon was dark 
with storms, whose duration and violence were as yet 
happily unknown. He himself, as he stood on the steps 
of the Capitol, was an untried man, sneered at by those 
who had held the reins of power in the country, an 
object for the rising hate of the aspiring aristocracy of 
the South, which had already sought his life, and would 
have sought it with still greater vindictiveness, if a tithe 
of the sagacity, firmness, honesty, and patriotism which 
animated his breast had been understood ; even then an 
object of interest and growing affection, comparatively 
unknown as he was even to his own friends, to those 
who saw -the danger which was overhanging the country, 
and were nerving themselves to meet it. 

But now the fierceness of the storm seemed to be pass- 
ing away, and clearer skies to be seen through the rolling 
clouds. The citizen, who, four years before, was utterly un- 
tried and unknown, was now the chosen leader of a nation of 
thirty million people, who trusted in his honesty as they 
trusted in the eternal principles of Nature, who believed 
him to be wise, and knew him to be abundant in patience 
and kindness of heart, with an army of half a million 



G70 The Life, Public Services, and 

men and a navy of hundreds of vessels at Ms command, 
one of the most powerful, certainly the most loved of all 
the leaders of the nations of the earth. There could he 
"but one higher step for him to attain, and to that, also, in 
the order of Providence, he was soon to be called. 

The scene of his re-inauguration was a striking one. 
The morning had been inclement, storming so violently 
that up to a few minutes before twelve o'clock it was 
supposed that the Inaugural Address would have to be 
delivered in the Senate Chamber. But the people had 
gathered in immense numbers before the Capitol, in spite 
of the storm, and just before noon the rain ceased and the 
clouds broke away, and, as the President took the oath of 
office, the blue sky appeared above, a small white cloud, 
like a hovering bird, seemed to hang above his head, and 
the sunlight broke through the clouds and fell upon him 
with a glory, afterwards felt to have been an emblem of 
the martyr's crown, which was so soon to rest upon his 
head. 

The oath of office was administered by Chief- Justice 
Chase, and the President delivered his second Inaugural 
Address as follows : — 

Fellow-Countrymen : — At this second appearing to take the oath of 
the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than 
there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course 
to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration 
of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly 
called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still ab- 
sorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is 
new could be presented. 

The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as 
well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satis- 
factory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no pre- 
diction in regard to it is ventured. 

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts 
were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all 
sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being delivered 
from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, 
insurgent agents were in the city, seeking to destroy it with war — 
seeking to dissolve the Union and divide the effects by negotiation. 
Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G71 

than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than 
let it perish, and the war came. One-eighth of the whole population 
were colored slaws, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized 
in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and power- 
ful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the 
war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object 
for which the insurgents would rend the Union by war, while the Gov- 
ernment claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial en- 
largement of it. 

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which 
it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the con- 
flict might cease, or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each 
looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. 

Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes Hi3 
aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to 
ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other 
men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayer of 
both conl & not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. 
The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences, 
for it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom 
the offence cometh. If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of 
these offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which 
having continued through His appointed time, lie now wills to remove, 
and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe 
due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern there any 
departure from those Divine attributes which the believers in a living 
God always ascribe to him ? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, 
that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet if God 
wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the- bondsman's two 
hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every 
drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with 
the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so, still it must be said 
that the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right 
as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up 
the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, 
and for his widow and his orphans, to do all which may achieve and 
cherish a just aud a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations. 

The only change which was made in the Cabinet was 
one made necessary by the resignation, in consequence of 
his election to the Senate, of Mr. Fessenden, Secretary of 
the Treasury, whose post was filled on the 6th of March, 
by the appointment of the Hon. Hugh McCullough, of 
Indiana. With this exception, affairs went on as before, 



672 The Life, Public Services, and 

without any perceptible change in their working in conse- 
quence of the change of Administration. 

The Senate met in extra session, and at once had a 
sharp debate on the admission of the Senators from Ar- 
kansas, whose credentials were finally ordered to be sent 
to the Committee of the Judiciary. The other business 
before the Senate was Executive merely. 

One of the acts passed by Congress near the close of 
the session was an amendment of the laws for calling 
out the National forces, one provision of which directed 
the President to issue a proclamation, calling upon de- 
serters to return to their duty within sixty days. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 11th of March, the proclamation was 
issued as follows : — 

A PKOCLAMATIOK 

Whereas, the twenty-first section of the act of Congress, approved on the 
8J instant, entitled "Au \ct to amend the several acts heretofore passed 
to provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces and for 
other purposes," requires that in addition to the other lawful penalties of 
the crime of desertion from tli e military or naval service, all persons who 
have deserted the military cr naval service of the United States who 
shall not return to said service or report themselves to a provost-marshal 
within sixty days after the proclamation hereinafter mentioned, shall bo 
deemed and taken to have voluntarily relinquished and forfeited their cit- 
izenship and their right to become citizens, and such deserters shall be 
forever incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under the United 
States, or of exercising any rights of oitizens thereof; and all persons who 
shall hereafter desert the military or naval service, and all persons who, being 
duly enrolled, shall depart the jurisdiction of the district in which they are 
enrolled, or go beyond the limits of the United States with intent to avoid 
any draft into the military or naval service duly ordered, shall be liable to 
the penalties of this section ; and the President is hereby authorized and 
required forthwith, on the passage of this act, to issue his proclamation 
setting forth the provisions of this section, in which proclamation the Pres- 
ident is requested to notify all deserters returning within sixty days as 
aforesaid that they shall be pardoned on condition of returning to their 
regiments and companies, or to such other organizations as they may be 
assigned to, until they shall have served for a period of time equal to 
their original term of enlistment: 

Now, therefore, he it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of tho 
United States, do issue this my proclamation as required by said act, or- 
dering and requiring all deserters to return to their proper posts ; and 1 do 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G73 

hereby notify them that all deserters who shall within sixty days from 
the date of this proclamation, viz., on or before tho 10th day of May, 18C5, 
return to service or report themselves to a provost-marshal, shall be 
pardoned on condition that they return to their regiments or companies or 
to such other organization as they may be assigned to, and serve the re- 
mainder of their original terms of enlistment, and in addition thereto a 
period equal to the time lost by desertion. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this eleventh day of March, in the year 
r -, of our Lord eighteen hundred and sixty-five, and of the inde- 
pendence of the United States the eighty-ninth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President: 

William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

In addition to the increase of our armies which this proc- 
lamation gave — for great numbers of deserters availed 
themselves of its provisions — the draft, which had been 
often postponed, was fairly put in operation on the loth 
of March ; — not that there was so pressing and im- 
mediate a need of men, for the tide of military successes 
continued to roll in full and strong in our favor ; but the 
authorities felt called upon to provide for future contin- 
gencies, which happily never arose. 

On every hand the prospects of the rebellion were 
growing darker. The stream of deserters from Lee' s lines 
was growing larger and larger, most of the men bringing 
their arms with them, and all uniting in the same story of 
the demoralization of those they had left behind. In their 
extremity, the rebel leaders even began to turn to the 
negro for help, and various propositions were introduced 
into the rebel Congress looking towards the employment 
of slaves as soldiers. The measure, however, was not a 
popular one, for it was felt to be a practical abandonment 
of those ideas of slavery for whose supremacy the rebel- 
lion had been set on foot. At one time the proposition 
before the rebel Senate for arming the slaves was defeated 
by one vote. The President referred to this extremity of 
theirs, and this means of relief which they had sought, in a 
speech which he made when a rebel tiag, captured at 
Anderson by the One Hundred and Fortieth Indiana Vol- 

43 



674 The Life, Public Services, and 

nnteers, was presented to Governor Morton in front of the 
National Hotel on the 17th of March. A large crowd was 
in attendance. Governor Morton made a brief speech, in 
which he congratulated his auditors on the speedily ap- 
proaching end of the rebellion, and concluded by introdu- 
cing President Lincoln, whose purity and patriotism were 
confessed, he said, by all, even among the most violent 
of his opponents. His Administration would be recog- 
nized as the most important epoch of history. It had 
struck the death-blow to slavery, and clothed the Re- 
public with a power it never before possessed. If he 
had done nothing more than put his name to the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation, that act alone would have made his 
name immortal. 

The President addressed the assembly substantially as 
follows : — 

Fellow-Citizens: — It will be but a very few words that I shall under- 
take to say. I was born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, and lived 
in Illinois ; and now I am here, whore it is my business to care equally 
for the good people of all the Stat :s. I am glad to see an Indiana 
regiment on this day able to present the captured flag to the Governor 
of Indiana. I am not disposed, in saying this, to make a distinction be- 
tween the States, for all have done equally well. 

There are but few views or aspects of this great war upon which I 
have not said or written something whereby my own opinions might be 
known. But there is one — the recent attempt of our erring brethren, as 
they are sometimes called, to emj i«»/ the negro to fight for them. I have 
neither written nor made a speech on that subject, because that was 
their business, not mine, and if I had a wish upon the subject, I had 
not the power to introduce it, or make it effective. The great question 
with them was whether the negro, being pat into the army, will fight for 
them. I do not know, and therefore cannot decide. They ought to 
know better than me. I have in my lifetime heard many arguments 
why the negroes ought to be slaves; but if they fight for those who 
would keep them in slavery, it will be a better argument than any I 
have yet heard. He who will fight for that, ought to be a slave. They 
have concluded, at last, to take one out of four of the slaves and put 
them in the army, and that one out of the four who will fight to keep 
the others in slavery, ought to be a slave himself, unless he is killed in a 
fight. While I have often said that all men ought to be free, yet would 
I allow those colored persons to be slaves who want to be, and next to 
them those white people who argue in favor of making othei people 
slaves. I am in favor of giving an appointment to such white men tt» 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G75 

try it on for these slaves. I will say one thing in regard to the negroes 
being employed to light for them. I do know he cannot fight and stay at 
home and make bread too. And as one is about as important as the 
other to them, I don't care which they do. I am rather in favor of 
having them try them as soldiers. They lack one vote of doing that, and 
I wish I could send my vote over the river so that I might cast it in favor 
of allowing the negro to tight. But they cannot fight and work both. 
"We must now see the bottom of the enemy's resources. They will 
stand out as long as they can, and if the negro will fight for them they 
must allow him to fight. They have drawn upon their last branch of 
resources, and we can now see the bottom. I am glad to see the end so 
near at hand. I have said now more than I intended, and will therefore 
bid you good-by. 

But even the culminating interest of affairs before Rich- 
mond did not absorb exclusively the President's attention. 
On the 17th he issued the following proclamation against 
persons furnishing arms to the hostile Indians in the 
West, who, stirred up by emissaries from the rebels, or 
coming to the conclusion from their own judgment, that 
while the white men were thus fighting each other, it was 
surely a good time for the red man to strike, had, on more 
than one occasion, since the rebellion broke out, spread 
terror and destruction over the Northwest. 

Whereas, Reliable information has been received that hostile Indians 
within the limits of the United States have been furnished with arms 
and munitions of war by persons dwelling in foreign territory, and 
are thereby enabled to prosecute their savage warfare upon the exposed 
and sparse settlements of the frontier : Kow, therefore, be it known that 
I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, do 
hereby proclaim and direct that all persons engaged in that nefarious 
traffic shall be arrested and tried by court-martial, at the nearest mili- 
tary post, and if convicted, shall receive the punishment due to their 
deserts. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of 
the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this 17th day of March, in the 
[l. s.] year of our Lord 1865, and of the independence of the United 
States of America the eighty-ninth. 

By the President : Abraham Lincoln. 

Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

Two days afterwards the following orders were issued by 
the State Department, directed against blockade-runners, 



676 The Life, Public Services, and 

a class who had been treated too long with leniency and 
allowed too many facilities for carrying on their traffic, 
which had greatly prolonged the war and increased its 
"burdens and difficulties : — 

Department of State, Washington, March 19, 1SC5. 

The President directs that all persons who now are or hereafter shall 
he found within the United States, and who have been engaged in hold- 
ing intercourse or trade with the insurgents by sea, if they are citizens 
of the United States or domiciled aliens, be arrested and held as prison- 
ers of war till the war shall close ; subject, nevertheless, to prosecution, 
trial, and conviction for any offence committed by them, as spies or other- 
wise, against the laws of war. 

The President further directs that all non-resident foreigners who now 
are or hereafter shall be found in the United States, and who have been 
or shall have been engaged in violating the blockade of the insurgent 
ports, shall leave the United States within twelve days from the publica- 
tion of this order, or from their subsequent arrival in the United States 
if on the Atlantic side, and forty days if on the Pacific side of the coun- 
try. And such persons shall not return to the United States during tho 
continuance of the war. 

Provost-Marshals and Marshals of the United States will arrest and 
commit to military custody all such offenders as shall disregard this 
order, whether they have passports or not, and they will be detained in 
such custody until the end of the war, or until discharged by subsequent 
order of the President. Wm. II. Seward, 

Secretary of State. 

There was some little talk during the first part of the 
month about negotiations for peace. The rebels seem to 
have thought that, having failed so utterly in their con- 
ference with the President and Mr. Seward, they might 
do better if they could succeed in opening negotiations 
directly with General Grant. The President, however, 
again defeated them by sending the following order :— 

Washington, March 3, 1S65— 12 p. li. 

Lieutenant-General Grant : 

The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no 
conference with General Lee, unless it be for the capitulation of General 
Lee's army, or on some minor and purely military matter. lie instructs 
me to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political 
question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will 
submit them to no military conferences or conventions. Meautiine you 
are to press to the utmost your military advantages. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary qf War. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 677 

The official duties which devolved upon the President 
were very heavy after his inauguration. The coming 
in of a new Administration, though there was so 
little change, called forth a swarm of office-seekers, 
and the President's time and strength were severely 
1 taxed. He was for a time quite ill, and about the 24th of 
March took refuge in a visit to the Army of the Po- 
tomac. On the 25th, General Lee had made a sudden and 
desperate attack upon Fort Stedman, an important posi- 
tion on the right of our lines before Petersburg, com- 
manding our communications with City Point. By a 
surprise, the rebels carried the fort and took some pris- 
oners. But the neighboring fortifications turned a terri- 
ble tire upon it, and our troops, by a gallant assault, drove 
the rebels out with great loss, so that the da}', which began 
with their success, was turned into a disastrous defeat for 
them. An attack was also made by our forces on our 
left, and important advantages were gained in that 
quarter. The President was visiting the army at the 
time, and arrived on the field in time to witness the re- 
treat of the rebels, and to learn the story of their attack 
and repulse from General Parke, whose brave fellows of 
the Ninth Corps had retaken Fort Stedman. The Pres- 
idential party continued on their route to the extreme right, 
going within six miles of Richmond. On their ride they 
witnessed the crossing to the south side of the James of 
General Sheridan's cavalry, with which, after having 
raided in the earl}' part of the month to the west of Rich- 
mond, defeated General Early utterly at Waynesboro', 
and destroyed the James River Canal, and the Lynch- 
burg Railroad, and done inestimable damage to the rebels, 
he had come back by way of the White House, on the 
Pamunkey, and was now crossing to the south side of the 
James to take a prominent part in the approaching de- 
cisive assault upon the army of General Lee. 

General Sherman effected a junction with the forces 
under General Terry's command, at Goldsboro', N. C, 
on the 19th of March. 

There were not wanting those who thought that his 



678 The Life, Public Services, and 

march into North Carolina was a march into danger. 
Said one of these persons to the President one day :- 

Mr. Lincoln, as Sherman's army advances, the rebel forces necessarily 
concentrate and increase in number. Before long Sherman will drive the 
columns of Johnston, Bragg, Hoke, and others, within a few days' march 
of Lee's main army. May not Lee suddenly march south with the bulk 
of his army, form a junction with Johnston's troops, and before Grant 
can follow any considerable distance, strike Sherman's column with supe- 
rior force, break his lines, defeat his army, and drive his broken frag- 
ments back to the coast, and with his whole army give battle to Grant, 
and perhaps defeat him? 

"And perhaps not," replied the President. "Napoleon tried the same 
game on the British and Prussians, in 1815. lie concentrated his forces 
and fell suddenly on Blucher, and won an indecisive victory. lie then 
whirled round and attacked the British, and met his Waterloo. Bona- 
parte was hardly inferior to Lee in military talents or experience. 

"But are you sure that Lee's forces, united with Johnston's, could 
beat Sherman's army? Could he gain his Ligny, before meeting with his 
"Waterloo when he attacks Grant? I tell you, gentlemen, there is a heap 
of fight in one hundred thousand Western veterans. They are a good 
deal like old Zach. Taylor at Buena Vista — they don't know when they 
are whipped." 

The President's judgment was better, his hopefulness 
"better founded, than the misgivings of his questioner. 

Upon General Sherman's arrival at Goldsboro', he made 
a journey to City Point, where he and General Grant held 
consultation together, and with the President, as to the 
campaign now about to commence. General Sherman 
immediately returned to his command, and on the 30th 
the decisive final movement of the war was begun by 
General Sheridan, who moved his cavalry towards the 
south and the left of our army. It had been the plan 
that he should make a raid upon the Southside Railroad, 
but when he had gone as far as Dinwiddie Court-Iionse, 
he was ordered by General Grant to abandon the raid, 
and, in concert with the infantry under his own immediate 
command, endeavor to turn Lee's right flank. 

There was heavy fighting in that part of the lines on 
the 30th and the 31st of March, for Lee knew that where 
Sheridan was he must have a strong front to meet him, 



^ 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. C7D 

and the rebel troops were thrown out in that part of the 
lines in heavy force. The President remained at City 
Point, and at 3 p. m. sent the following telegram to the 
Secretary of War : — 

At 12.30 p. m. to-day, General Grant telegraphed mo as follows: 

There has been much hard fighting: this morning. The enemy drove 
our left from near Dabnev's house hack well towards the Boydton Plank- 
road. We are now about to take the offensive at that point, and I hope 
will more than recover the lost ground. ' 

Later he telegraphed again as follows: 

Our troops, after being driven back to the "Boydton Plsnkroad, turned 
and drove the enemy in turn, and took the White Oak road, which we 
now have. This gives us the ground occupied by the enemy this morning. 
I will send you a rebel flag captured by our troops in drivug the enemy 
back. There have been four flags captured to-day. 

Judging by the two points from which General Grant telegraphs, I in- 
fer that he moved his head-quarters about one mile since he scut the first 
of the two dispatches. 

A. Lincoln. 

On the 1st of April, General Sheridan's plans and the 
valor of the troops proved successful. The rebels being 
flanked by the Fifth Corps, which had been placed mule*' 
Iris command, and vigorously attacked in front by th< 
cavalry, were thoroughly routed, with a loss of five oi 
six thousand prisoners, besides killed and wounded. 

The only dispatch received from the President on thia 
day was one sent before the final success was achieved, 
which was not till late in the afternoon. 

The rebel right wing having been thus crushed, General 
Grant not only threw his indomitable left forward, but 
ordered a general attack all along the lines at daylight 
next morning, which proved everywhere successful. 

The following dispatches were sent by the President 
during the day, and give a succinct account of the battle 
and its results : — 

Citt Point, Virginia, April 2, 1SC5— 3 30 a. si. 

Honorable E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War: 

Last night General Grant telegraphed that General Sheridan, with his 
cavalry and the Fifth Corps, had captured three brigades of infantry, a 
train of wagons, and several batteries; the prisoners amounting to several 
thousand. 



CSO The Life, Public Services, and 

This morning General Grant, having ordered an attack along the "whole 
line, telegraphs as f jllows : — 

Both Wright and Parke got through the enemy's lines. The battle now 
rages furiously. General Sheridan, with his cavalry, the Fifth Corps, and 
Miles's Division of the Second Corps, which was sent to him this morning, 
is now sweeping down from the west. 

All now looks highly favorable. General Ord is engaged, but I have 
not yet heard the result in his front. 

A. Lincoln. 

Citt Point, 11 a. m., April 2. 

Dispatches are frequently coming in. All is going on finely. Generals 
Parke, Wright, and Ord's lines are extending from the Appomattox to 
Hatcher's Run. They have all broken through the enemy's intrenched 
lines, taking some forts, guns, and prisoners. 

Sheridan, with his own cavalry, the Fifth Corps, and part of the Second, 
is coming in from the west on the enemy's flank. Wright is already 
tearing up the Southside Railroad. 

A. Lincoln. 

Citt Point, Virginia, April 2, 2 p. m. 
At 10.45 a. m. General Grant telegraphs as follows: — 
Every thing has been carried from the left of the Ninth Corps. The 
Sixth Corps alone captured more than three thousand prisoners. The 
Sei.'" 1 and Twenty-fourth Corps captured forts, guns, and prisoners from 
the enemy, but I cannot tell the numbers. We are now closing around 
the works of the line immediately enveloping Petersburg. All looks re- 
markably well. I have not yet heard from Sheridan. His head-quartera 
have been moved up to Banks's House, near theBoydton road, about three 
miles southwest of Petersburg. 

A. Lincoln. 

Citt Point, "Vikginia, April 2, 8.30 p. if. 

At 4.30 p. m. to-day General Grant telegraphs as follows : — 
We are now up and have a continuous line of troops, and in a few hours 
will be intrenched from the Appomattox below Petersburg to the river 
above. The whole captures since the army started out will not amount 
to less than twelve thousand men, and probably fifty pieces of artillery. 
I do not know the number of men and guns accurately, however. A por- 
tion of Foster's Division, Twenty-fourth Corps, made a most gallant charge 
this afternoon, and captured a very important fort from the enemy, with 
its entire garrison. 

All seems well with us, and every thing is quiet just now\ 

A. Lincoln. 

The results of the fighting of this 2d of April were 
so disastrous to the rebels, that General Lee saw at once 
that he must evacuate Petersburg, and Richmond also. 
His dispatch announcing the necessity was handed to 
Mr. Davis while at church. He immediately left the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G81 

church, and, making a hasty preparation for departure, 
left that night by the Danville Railroad. Richmond and 
Petersburg were both abandoned during the night. At 
half-past eight the President sent the following dispatch 
to Secretary Stanton: — 

This morning Lieutenant-General Grant reports Petersburg evacuated, 
and he is confident that Richmond also is. 

He is pushing forward to cut off, if possible, the retreating rebel army. 

A. Lincoln. 

Fifteen minutes before this dispatch was sent, Richmond 
had been occupied by our troops. The second brigade 
of the Third Division of the Twenty-fourth Army Corps, 
under Major-General Weitzel, were the first to enter the 
city. They found that the rebel authorities had not only 
carried off whatever they could, but had set fire to 
tobacco warehouses, Government workshops, and other 
buildings, till there was great danger that the whole city 
would be consumed. General Weitzel at once set the 
men to work to put out the fires, and re-established as 
much order as was possible. 

The President, immediately after sending ' the above 
dispatch, went to the front, where all things had changed 
at once from the terrors of the fierce assault to the exul- 
tation of eager pursuit. General Grant's objective in 
the whole campaign had been, not Richmond, but Lee's 
army ; and for that he pushed forward, regardless of the 
captured cities which lay behind him, showing himself as 
relentless in pursuit as he had been undaunted in at- 
tack. 

The President did not, indeed, follow the army in its 
forced march to cut off Lee's retreat, but he did what 
would be almost as incredible, if we did not know how 
difficult he found it to attribute to others hatred of 
which he felt no impulse himself — he went to Richmond 
on the day after it was taken. 

Nothing could be more characteristic or more striking 
than his entrance into the rebel capital. He came up in 
a man-of-war, about two p. m. 3 to the landing called the 



6S2 The Life, Public Services, and 

Rocketts, about a mile below the city, and thence, ac- 
companied by his young son and Admiral Porter, came 
to the city in a boat. His coming was unannounced. 
JNo roll of drums or presented arms greeted his approach. 
He had not even a military guard. The sailors who had 
rowed him up accompanied him, armed with carbines. 
He came in no triumphal car, not even on horseback, to 
be "the observed of all observers ;" but, like any other 
citizen, walked up the streets towards General Weitzers 
head-quarters, in the house occupied two days before by 
Jefferson Davis. But the news of his arrival spread as 
he walked, and from all sides the colored people came 
running together, with cries of intense exultation, to 
greet their deliverer. A writer in the All antic Monthly, 
thus, from personal observation, describes the scene : — 

They gathered round the President, ran ahead, hovered upon the flanks 
of the little company, and hung like a dark cloud upon the rear. Hen, 
women, and children joined the constantly-increasing throng. They 
came from all the by-streets, running in breathless haste, shouting and 
hallooing, and (lancing with delight. The men threw up their hats, the 
women waved their bonnets and handkerchiefs, clapped their hands, and 
sang, "Glory to God! glory, glory!" rendering all the praise to God, 
who had heard their waitings in the past, their raoanings for wives, hus- 
bands, children, and friends sold out of their sight; had given them free- 
dom, and after long years of waiting, had permitted them thus unexpect- 
edly to behold the face of their great benefactor. 

"I thank you, dear Jesus, that I behold President Linknra!" was the 
exclamation of a woman who stood upon the threshold of her humble 
home, and with streaming eyes and clasped hands gave thanks aloud to 
the Saviour of men. 

Another, more demonstrative in her joy, was jumping and striking her 
hands with all her might, crying, "Bless de Lord! Bless de Lord! 
Bless de Lord I 1 ' as if there could be no end to her thanksgiving. 

The air rang with a tumultuous chorus of voices. The street became 
almost impassable on account of the increasing multitude, till soldiers 
were summoned to clear the way. * * * 

The walk was long, and the President halted a moment to rest. " May 
de good Lord bless you, President Linkum!" said an old negro, removing 
his hat and bowing, with tears of joy rolling down his cheeks. The Pres- 
ident removed his own hat, and bov d in silence; but it was a bow 
which upset the forms, laws, customs, and ceremonies of centuries. It 
was a death-shock to chivalry and a mortal wound to caste. Becognize a 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. CS3 

nigger! Faugh! A woman in an adjoining house beheld it, aud turned 
from the scene in unspeakable disgust. 

An-ivecl at General Weitzel' s head-quarters, after a 
brief interval the President held a short levee, then took 
a rapid drive about the city, and left on his return at 
half-past six p. m. 

On Thursday he again visited Richmond, accompanied 
by Mrs. Lincoln, Vice-President Johnson, and several 
Senators and others. He held interviews while here with 
some of the leading men, who sought to obtain from him 
something which should make the submission of the 
South more easy, and should save to the rebel leaders as 
much as possible of their wealth and power. By them 
he was urged to issue a conciliatory proclamation. He 
did, indeed, go so far as to send to General Weitzel the 
following order, allowing the reassembling of the Virginia 
Legislature for the purpose stated in the order : — 



f 



Head-Quap.teks Armies or tub United States, 
City Point, April G, 1SC5. 

Major-General Weitzel, Richmond, Va. : 

It lias been intimated to me that the gentlemen who have acted as the 
Legislature of Virginia, in support of the rebellion, may now desire to 
assemble at Richmond and take measures to withdraw the Virginia troops 
and other support from resistance to the General Government. If they 
attempt it, give them permission and protection, uutil, if at all, they 
attempt some action hostile to the United States, in which case you will 
notify them, give them reasonable time to leave, and at the end of which 
time arreat any who remain. Allow Judge Campbell to see this, but do 
not make it public. 

Yours, &c, 

A. Lincoln. 

As Lee surrendered the remains of his army to Gen- 
eral Grant on Sunday, April 9, that reason no longer ex- 
isted ; and, on the 12th, General Weitzel received a tele- 
gram from the President in Washington to annul the 
call, as the necessity for it had passed. 

The President returned to Washington on April 9th, 
his return having been hastened somewhat by an acci- 
dent to Mr. Seward, who had been thrown from his 
carriage some days previous, and had broken his right arm 



684 The Life, Public Services, and 

and his jaw. The news of Lee's surrender reached Wash- 
ington shortly after Mr. Lincoln arrived, and caused the 
greatest rejoicing, not only in Washington, "but over the 
whole country. In fact, the people had been borne on 
the top of a lofty wave of joy ever since Sheridan's 
victory at the Five Forks, and this but intensified the 
universal exultation. A large company waited on the 
President on Monday afternoon to congratulate him. In 
answer to their call, he appeared, merely to say : — 

If tli e company had assembled by appointment, some mistake had crept 
in their understanding. He had appeared before a larger audience than 
this one to-day, and he would repeat what he then said, namely, he sup- 
posed owing to the great, good news, there would be some demonstration. 
He would prefer to-morrow evening, when he should be quite willing, 
and he hoped ready, to say something. lie desired to be particular, be- 
cause every thing he said got into print. Occupying the position he 
did, a mistake would produce harm, and therefore he wanted to be care- 
ful not to make a mistake. [A voice, " You have not made any yet."] 

The President was greeted with cheers, and, after bid- 
ding the crowd good-evening, retired. 

On the next evening, an immense crowd assembled at 
the Executive Mansion, which, as well as the various 
departments, was illuminated in honor of the occasion. 
The city, too, was ablaze with bonfires and waving with 
flags. 

It was under such circumstances of joy, too soon to be 
changed into grief as deep as this exultation was high, 
that Mr. Lincoln delivered this, his last public address, 
on Tuesday, the 11th of April, as follows : — 

Fellow- Citizens : — We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness 
of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the sur- 
render of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and 
speedy peace, whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. In the 
midst of this, however, lie from whom all blessings ilow must not be for- 
gotten. 

A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will bfi duly 
promulgated. Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of 
rejoicing be overlooked. Their honors must not be parcelled out with 
others. I myself was near the front, and had the pleasure of transmit- 
ting much of the good news to you. But no part of the honor for plan 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 685 

or execution is mine. To General Grant, his skilful officers, and bravo 
men, all belongs. The gallant navy stood ready, but was not in reach to 
take active part. By these recent successes, the reinauguration of tho 
national authority — reconstruction — which has had & large share of 
thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention-. 
It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike a case of war between inde- 
pendent nations, there its no authorized oraan for its to treat with — no one 
man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We 
simply must begin with and mould from disorganized and discordant ele- 
ments. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment that we, tho loyal 
people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, manner, and measure of re- 
construction. Asa general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of at- 
tacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I cannot 
properly offer an answer. In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to 
mj knowledge that I am much censured for some supposed agency in setting 
up and seeking to sustain the new State Government of Louisiana. In this I 
have done just so much and no more than the public knows. In the Annual 
Message of December, 18G3, and the accompanying proclamation, I pre- 
sented a plan of reconstruction, as the phrase goes, which I promised, if 
adopted by any State, would be acceptable to and sustained by the Ex- 
ecutive Government of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was 
not the only plan which might possibly be acceptable, and I also dis- 
tinctly protested that the Executive claimed no right to say when or 
whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such 
States. This plan was in advance submitted to the then Cabinet, and 
approved by every member of it. One of them suggested that I should 
then and in that connection apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the 
theretofore excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana: that I should drop 
the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I should 
omit the protest against my own power in regard to the admission of 
members of Congress. But even he approved every part and parcel of 
the plan which has since been employed or touched by the action of 
Louisiana. The new Constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation 
for the whole State, practically applies the proclamation to the. part pre- 
viously excepted. It does not adopt apprenticeship for freed people, and 
is silent, as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of mem- 
bers to Congress. So that, as it applied to Louisiana, every member of 
the Cabinet fully approved the plan. The message went to Congress, 
and I received many commendations of the plan, written and verbal, and 
not a single objection to it from any professed emancipationist came to 
my knowledge until after the news reached Washington that the people 
of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about 
July, 1862, I had corresponded with different persons supposed to be in- 
terested in seeking a reconstruction of a S'ate Government for Louisiana. 
When the message of 1803, with the plan before mentioned, readied New 
Orleans, General Banks wrote me that he was contident that the people, 



686 The Life, Public Services, and 

with his military co-operation, -would reconstruct substantially on that 
plan. I wrote to him and some of them to try it. They tried it, and 
the result is known. Such has been my only agency in getting up the 
Louisiana Government. As to sustaining it, my promise is out, as before 
6tated. But as bad promises are better broken than kept, I shall treat 
this as a bad promise and break it, whenever I shall be convinced that 
keeping it is adverse to the public interest ; but I have not yet been so 
convinced. I have been shown a letter on this subject, supposed to be an 
able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not 
seemed to be definitely fixed upon the question whether the seceded 
States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would perhaps add 
astonishment to his regret were he to learn that since I have found pro- 
fessed Union men endeavoring to answer that question, I have purposely 
forborne any public expression upon it. As appears to me, that question 
has not been nor yet is a practically material one, and that any discussion 
of it, while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no effect 
other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends. As yet, what- 
ever it may become, that question is bad as the basis of a controversy, and 
good for nothing at all — a merely pernicious abstraction. We all agree 
that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper practical relation 
with the Union, and that the sole object of the Government, civil 
and military, in regard to those States, is to again get them into their prop- 
er practical relation. I believe that it is not only possihle, but in fact 
easier, to do this without deciding or even considering whether those 
States have ever been out of the Union, than with it. Finding themselves 
safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had been 
abroad, f Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restore the proper 
practical relations between these States and the Union, and each forever 
after innocently indulge his own opinion whether, in doing the acts, he 
brought the States from without into the Union, or only gave them proper 
assistance, they never having been out of it. The amount of constituency, 
so to speak, on which the Louisiana Government rests, would be more 
sal isfaotory to all if it contained fifty thousand, or thirty thousand, or even 
twenty thousand, instead of twelve thousand, as it does. It is also unsatis- 
factory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. 
I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and 
on those who serve our cause as soldiers. Still, the question is not whether 
the Louisiana Government, as it stands, is quite all that is desirable. 
The question is, Will it be wiser to take it as it is and help to improve it, 
or to reject andd'sperse? Can Louisiana be brought iixto proper practical 
relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State 
Gov eminent ? Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore Slave State 
of Louisiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the right- 
ful political power of the State, held elections, organized a State Govern- 
ment, adopted a Free State Constitution, giving the benefit of public 
schools epually to black and white, and empowering the Legislature to 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. CS7 

confer the elective franchise upon the colored man. This Legislature 
has already voted to, ratify the Constitutional Amendment recently pass* d 
by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These twelve 
thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union and to perpetu- 
ate freedom in the State — committed to the very things, and nearly all 
things, the nation wants — and they ask the nation's recognition and its 
assistance to make good this committal. Now, if we rejeol and spun: 
them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We, in fact, 
pay to the white man : You are worthless or worse ; we will neither help 
you nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say : Tins cup of liberty 
which these, your old masters, held to your lips, we will dash from you, 
and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered con- 
tents in some vague and undefined when, where, and how. If this course, 
discouraging and paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to 
bring Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have so 
far been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and 
sustain the new Government of Louisiana, the converse of all this 
is made true. AVe encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of twelve 
thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and proselyte for it, 
and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it to a complete suc- 
cess. The colored man, too, in seeing all united for him, is inspired with 
vigilance, and energy, and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires 
the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already 
Advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them? Con- 
cede that the new Government of Louisiana is only to what it should be 
as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the 
egg than by smashing it. [Laughter.] Again, if we reject Louisiana, we 
also reject one vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the National 
Constitution. To meet this proposition, it has been argued L..at no more 
than three- fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are 
necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I* do not commit myself 
against this, further than to say that such a ratification would be ques- 
tionable, and sure to be persistently questioned, while a ratification by 
three-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable. 
I repeat fcho question, Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical 
relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new 
State Government? What has been said of Louisiana will apply to other 
States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain to each State, and such im- 
portant and sudden changes occur in the same State, and withal so new 
and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive and indexible 
plan can safely lie prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such exclu- 
sive and inflexible plan would surely become a new entanglement. Im- 
portant 'principles may and must be inflexible. In the present situation. 
as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new announcement 
to the people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act, 
when satisfied that action will be proper. 



688 The Life, Public Services, and 

The surrender of Lee changed the whole aspect of the 
war, and enabled the President to place matters on a dif- 
ferent footing, both at home and with foreign nations. 

The following proclamations were issued on April 11 — 
the first substituting a closing of certain ports for the 
blockade, as he was authorized to do by act of Congress 
of July ] 8, 1861 ; the second correcting an error in the first ; 
and the third, to announce to foreign nations that the re- 
strictions which they had placed upon our national vessels 
must be withdrawn, or the same treatment would be ex- 
tended to them : — 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, by my proclamation of the 19th and 27th days of April, 1861, 
the ports of the United States in the States of Virginia, North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and 
Texas were declared to be subject to blockade; but whereas the said 
blockade has, in consequence of actual military occupation by this Govern- 
ment, since been conditionally set aside or relaxed in respect to the ports 
of Norfolk and Alexandria in the State of Virginia, Beaufort in the State 
of North Carolina, Port Royal in the State of South Carolina, Pensacola 
and Fernandinain the State of Florida, and New Orleans in the State of 
Louisiana ; and 

Whereas, by the fourth section of the act of Congress approved on the 
13th of July 1861, entitled "An Act further to provide for the collection 
of duties on imports and other purposes," the President, for the reasons 
therein set rorth, is authorized to close certain ports of entry : 

Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the 
United States, do hereby proclaim that the ports of Richmond, Tappahan- 
nock, Cherrytown, Yorktown, and Petersburg, in Virginia; of Camden, 
Elizabeth City, Edenton, Plymouth, Washington, Newbern, Ocracoke, and 
Wilmington, in North Carolina; of Charleston, Georgetown, and Beaufort 
in South Carolina; of Savannah, St. Mary's, Brunswick, and Darien, in 
Georgia; of Mobile, in Alabama ; of Pearl River, Shieldsboro', Natchez, and 
Vicksburg, in Mississippi; of St. Augustine, Key West, St. Mark's, Port 
Leon, St. John's, Jacksonville, and Apalachicola, in Florida; of Techo, 
Franklin, in Louisiana; of Galveston, La Salle, Brazos de Santiago, Point 
Isabel, and Brownsville, in Texas, are hereby closed,, and all right of im- 
portation, warehousing, and other privileges shall, in respect to the ports 
aforesaid, cease until they shall have again been opened by order of the Pres- 
ident ; and if, while the said ports are so closed, any ship or vessel from 
beyond the United States, or having on board any articles subject to duties, 
shall attempt to enter any such port, the same, together with its tackle, 
apparel, furniture, and cargo, shall be forfeited to the United States. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 689 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my'h^nd and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington this eleventh day of April, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-live, 
[l. s.] and of the independence of the United States of America the 
eighty-ninth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
"William II. Seward, Secretary of State. 

Whereas, by my proclamation of this date, the port of Key West, in the 
State of Florida, was inadvertently included amq/g those which are not 
open to commerce, — Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of 
the United States, do hereby declare and make known that the said port 
of Key West is and shall remain open to foreign and domestic commerce, 
upon the same conditions by which that commerce has heretofore been 
governed. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and' caused 
the seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington the eleventh day of April, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of 
[l. s.] the independence of the United States of America the eighty 
ninth. 

Abraham Lincoln. 
By the President : 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State. 

Whereas, for some time past, vessels of war of the United States have 
been refused in certain ports privileges and immunities to which they 
were entitled by treaty, public law, or the comity of nations, at the same 
time that vessels of war of the country wherein the said privileges and im- 
munities have been withheld have enjoyed them fully and uninterruptedly 
in the ports of the United States, which condition of things has not always 
been forcibly resisted by the United States, although on the other hand 
they have not failed to protest against and declare their dissatisfaction 
with the same. In the view of the United States no condition any longer 
exists which can be claimed to justify the denial to them by any one of 
said nations of the customary naval rights such as has heretofore been so 
unnecessarily persisted in. Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President 
of the United States, do hereby make known that, if after a reasonable 
time shall have elapsed for the intelligence of this proclamation to have 
reached any foreign country in whose ports the said privileges and im- 
munities shall have been refused as aforesaid, they shall continue to be so 
refused as aforesaid, then and thenceforth the same privileges and im- 
munities shall be refused to the vessels of war of the country in the ports 
of the United States, and this refusal shall continue until the war vessels of 
the United States shall have been placed upon an entire equality in the for- 
eign ports aforesaid with similar vessels of other countries. The United 
States, whatever claim or pretence may have existed heretofore, are no* 
44 



690 The Life, Public Services, amd 

at least entitled to claim and concede an entire and friendly equality of 
rights and hospitalities with all maritime nations. 

In -witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and cansed the seal of 
the United States to he affixed. 

Done at the City of "Washington this eleventh day of April, in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-live, and 
[l. s.] of the independence of the United States of America the eighty- 
ninth. 

A. Lincoln. 
By the President : . • 

William H. Sewaed, Secretary of State. 

!Nor were these the only measures adopted which indi- 
cated that the war was over, the rebellion crushed, and 
the era of peace and good feeling about to be ushered in. 

On the lothc the Secretary of War announced that, 
"after mature consideration and consultation with the 
Lieutenant- General upon the results of the recent cam- 
paign," the Department determined upon the following 
measures, to be carried into immediate effect, viz. : — 

First. — To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States. 

Second. — To curtail purchases of arms, ammunition, quartermaster's and 
commissary's supplies, and reduce the expenses of the military establish- 
ment in its several branches. 

Third. — To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the ac- 
tual necessities of the service. 

Fourth. — To remove all military restrictions upon trade and commerce, 
bo far as may be consistent with public safety. 

This determination of the Government, announced in 
the newspapers of the 14th of April, afforded the country 
a substantial and most welcome assurance that the war 
was over. The heart of the nation beat high with grati- 
tude to the illustrious Chief Magistrate, whose wisdom 
and patience had saved his country ; but whose glory, 
not yet complete, was, before another sun should rise, 
destined to receive the seal of immortality. 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G91 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION". 

TrfE Condition of the Country. — Assassination of the President. — 
Muei i i pon Seobetaby Seward. — The Funeral Peo- 

kom Washington to Springfield, Illinois. — Fate of tiie 
lssins. — Estimate of Mr. Lincoln's Character. — Conclusion. 

The war was oyer. The great rebellion which, for 
four long years, had been assailing the nation's life, was 
quelled. Richmond, the rebel capital, was taken, Lee's 
army had surrendered, and the flag of the Union was 
floating, in reassured supremacy, over the whole of the 
National domain. Friday, the 14th of April, the anni- 
versary of the surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861, by 
Major Anderson to the rebel forces, had been designated 
by the < rovernment as the day on which the same officer 
should again raise the American ilag upon the fort, in 
mce of an assembled multitude, and with ceremonies 
befitting so auspicious an occasion. The whole land re- 
joiced at the return of peace and the prospect of re- 
newed prosperity to the whole country. President Lin- 
coln shared this common joy, but with a deep intensity 
of feeling which no other man in the whole land could 
ever know. He saw the full fruition of the great work 
which had rested so heavily on his hands and heart for 
four years past. He saw the great task — as momentous 
as had ever fallen to the lot of man — wiw h he had ap- 
proached with such unfeigned diffidence, nearly at an 
end. The agonies of war had passed away — he haa won 
the imperishable renown which is the high reward of those 
who save their country, and he could devote himself 
now to the welcome task of healing the wounds which 
war had made, and consolidating, by a wise and mag- 



692 The Life, Public Services, and 

nanimous policy, the severed sections of our common 
Union. Mr. Lincoln's heart was full of the generous 
sentiments which these circumstances were so well calcu- 
lated to inspire. On the morning of Friday, a Cabinet 
meeting was held, at which he was even more than 
usually cheerful and hopeful, as he laid before the Secre- 
taries his plans and suggestions for the treatment of the 
conquered people of the Southern States. And after the 
meeting was over he talked with his wife, w::h all the 
warmth of his loving nature, of the four years of storm 
through which he had "been compelled to pass, and of 
the peaceful sky on which the opening of his second 
term had dawned. His mind was free from forebodings, 
and filled only with thoughts of kindness and of future 
peace. 

But Mr. Lincoln had failed to estimate aright one of the 
elements inseparable from civil war — the deep and malig- 
nant passion which it never fails to excite. ^Free from 
the faintest impulse of revenge himself, he could not ap- 
preciate its desperate intensity in the hearts of others. 
Mr. Seward, with his larger experience and more practi- 
cal knowledge of human nature, had repeatedly told him 
that so great a contest could never close without passing 
through an era of assassination — that if it did not come as 
a means of aiding the rebel cause, it would follow, and 
seek to avenge its downfall, and that it was the duty of all 
who were responsibly and conspicuously connected with 
the Government, to be prepared for this supreme test of 
their courage and patriotic devotion. Mr. Seward himself, 
had acted upon this conviction, and had stood at his post 
always prepared for sudden death. Mr. Lincoln was un- 
willing to contemplate the possibility of such a crime. 
To all remonstrances against personal exposure, he replied 
that his death could not possibly benefit the rebel cause, 
but would only rouse the loyalty of the land to fresh in- 
dignation, and that no precautions he could take would 
defeat the purpose of his murder, if it were really enter- 
tained. He continued, therefore, his habit of walking 
alone from the Executive Mansion to the War Department 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. G98 

late at night, and of riding unattended to his summer 
residence, the Soldiers' Home, four or five miles from the 
Capital, until the Secretary of War finally forced his 
reluctant assent to the presence of a guard. From time 
to time during his Administration, he had received letters 
threatening him with assassination, but as they were anon- 
ymous, and couched in language of bravado, he put them 
aside without remark. 

As the war drew towards its close, and the rebel cause 
seemed tottering to its fall, warnings ot more significance 
reached the Government, and arrested the attention of its 
leading members. Hints of plots against the President's 
life, among the rebel agents abroad and in Canada, began 
to multiply, and towards the last of March, Secretary 
Seward received from our consuls in London and Liver- 
pool detailed reports of revelations, made to their secret 
agents in France, of a comprehensive conspiracy against 
the lives of the President and Generals Grant and Sher- 
man, assumed to be the main bulwarks of the National 
cause.* These warnings were so distinct and direct, that 
Mr. Seward consulted Secretary Stanton in regard to 
them, and it was agreed that he should lay the subject 
before the President the next day, and earnestly represent 
to him the expediency of avoiding, for a time, all public 
gatherings, and all needless exposure to possible assault. 
But the next day Mr. Seward was thrown from his car- 
riage and, his foot catching in the steps, he was dragged 
for some distance, and so seriously injured, that he was 
compelled to dismiss all thought of public matters from 
his mind. Mr. Lincoln's visit to Richmond had led to 
remonstrances from friends, who feared that some rebel 
fanatic, frenzied by the overthrow of the rebel cause, 
might seek revenge in the murder of the President, and 
he had, in reply, given assurances that he would take 
all due precautions. But the matter evidently made but 
a momentary impression upon his mind, and his personal 
demeanor in all respects remained unchanged. 

On Friday, the 14th, he breakfasted with his son, Cap- 

* See Appendix 



Q>dL The Life, Public Services, and 

tain Robert Lincoln, who was on the staff of General 
Grant, and from whom he heard full details of the sur- 
render of General Lee, of which Captain Lincoln had 
been an eye-witness. He received various pulolic men 
after breakfast, among whom were Speaker Colfax and 
ex- Senator J. P. Hale, and conversed freely, in a tone 
of high and hopeful courage, of the immediate political 
future. Nothing can indicate more clearly the elation of 
mind with which the President regarded the future of the 
country, now that its safety had been assured, than the 
language he addressed, in conversation at this interview, 
to Mr. Colfax, who was at this time preparing for a jour- 
ney overland to the Pacific coast. Said he : — 

"3kfr. Colfax, I want you to take a message from me to the miners 
whom you visit. I have very large ideas of the mineral wealth of our 
nation. I believe it practically inexhaustible. It abounds all over the 
Western country, from the Eocky Mountains to the Pacific, and its devel- 
opment has scarcely commenced. During the war, when we were add- 
ing a couple of millions of dollars every day to our national debt, 1 did 
not care about encouraging the increase in the volume of our precious 
metals. We had the country to save first. But now that the rebellion 
is overthrown, and we know pretty nearly the amount of our national 
debt, the more gold and silver we mine, we make the payment of that 
debt so much the easier. Now," said he, speaking, with more emphasis, 
"I am going to encourage that in every possible way. We shall have 
hundreds of thousands of disbanded soldiers, anjjmany have feared that 
their return home in such great numbers might paralyze industry, by 
furnishing, suddenly, a greater supply of labor than there will be demand 
for. I am going to try to attract them to the hidden wealth of our moun- 
tain ranges, where there is room enough for all. Immigration, which 
even the war has not stopped, will land upon our shores hundreds of 
thousands more per year from overcrowded Europe. I intend to point 
them to the gold and silver that wait for them in the West. Tell tlie 
miners for me, that I shall promote their interests to the utmost of my 
ability ; because their prosperity is the prosperity of the nation ; and," 
eaid he, his eye kindling with enthusiasm, " we shall prove, in a very few 
years, that we are indeed the treasury of the world." 

At eleven o'clock he attended the meeting of the Cabinet, 
already referred to, which was rendered more than usu- 
ally interesting by the presence and report of General 
Grant, who had come direct to Washington from the field, 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. C ( J5 

without even entering the rebel Capital lie had conquered, 
forgetful of himself, and eager only to secure to the country 
the best fruits of the victory he had achieved. At this 
meeting the policy to he adopted towards the rebel SI 
was freely canvassed — all the leading points, submitted 1 >y 
the President, commanded the hearty acquiescence of the 
Cabinet and of General Grant, and, as the result of the 
interview, Secretary Stanton says he felt that the Govern- 
ment was stronger than at any previous period since the 
rebellion began. After the meeting was over, President 
Lincoln arranged to attend the theatre in the evening, ex- 
pecting to be accompanied by General Grant, and sent 
his messenger to Ford' s Theatre to engage a box. In the 
afternoon he received and conversed for a long time with 
several public men from his own State, and in the early 
evening had an interview with Speaker Colfax and Hon. 
George Ashmun, of Massachusetts, for whom, as an old 
friend, he had a warm regard. The conversation fell 
upon the apprehension widely felt for his life during his 
visit to Richmond, and he said that he should have felt 
the same fears concerning any one else under the same 
circumstances, but he could not feel that he himself was 
in any danger whatever. He afterwards gave Mr. Ash- 
mun a card, directing his immediate admission the next 
morning, wlnln Mr. Ashmun wished to see him upon 
business — and, turning to Mr. Colfax, said, "You are 
going to the theatre with Mrs. Lincoln and me, are you 
not?" Mr. Colfax, however, had other engagements for 
the evening, and could not go. Mr. Lincoln told him he 
would be glad to stay at home, but the people expi 
both General Grant and himself, and as General Giant 
had left town, he did not like to disappoint them alto- 
gether. He then again urged both Mr. Ashmun and Mr. 
Colfax to accompany him, but they both excused them- 
selves on the score of previous engagements. At a little af- 
ter eight o'clock the President, with Mrs. Lincoln, entered 
their carriage, and halting at the residence of Senator 
Harris, -where they were joined by Major n. R. Rathbone, 
the step-son, and by Miss Clara W. Harris, the daughter, 



696 The Life, Public Services, and 

of the Senator, they proceeded to Ford's Theatre, in 
Tenth Street, and immediately entered the "box prepared 
for their reception. 

This box was on the second floor of the theatre, looking 
down upon the stage, and on its right as the spectator enters 
the building. A narrow passage-way from the front behind 
the dress-circle leads to a door, which opens inwardly into 
an entry about eight feet long and four feet wide ; from 
which, at its farther end, another door opens directly into 
the box. The President, passing through these doors, seat- 
ed himself in a high-backed rocking-chair, placed for him 
at the corner of the box nearest the audience, Mrs. Lin- 
coln sitting next to him on his right, Miss Harris sitting 
next, in the corner of the box farthest from the audience, 
and Major Rathbone sitting on a sofa just behind Miss 
Harris. The box was a double one, with a front of about 
ten feet looking upon the stage, a small pillar rising from 
the centre of the railing to the ceiling above. An Amer- 
ican flag had been hung in front, in honor of the Presi- 
dent' s attendance. The door which entered the box was 
directly behind the President, and about five feet from 
his chair ; it was left standing open during the evening. 

The play for that evening was the "American Cousin." 
During the performance the attendant of the President 
came out from the box and sat a few feet.tfrom the outer 
door leading to it. At about nine o'clock a man came to 
the vicinity, with a large official envelope in his hand, ad- 
dressed, as is believed, to General Grant, and inquired 
for the President's messenger, to whom he exhibited the 
envelope, and of whom he made some inquiry, and then 
went away. At fifteen minutes after ten, John Wilkes 
Booth, an actor by profession, passed along the passage 
behind the spectators in the dress-circle, showed a card 
to the President' s messenger, and stood for two or three 
minutes looking down upon the stage and the orchestra 
below. He then entered the vestibule of the President's 
box, closed the door behind him, and fastened it by bra- 
cing a short plank against it from the wall, so that it could 
not be opened from the outside. He then drew a small 




Ente.«J according to A. i of Congress, in the yeai 1865, bv DERBY * Mil ' »rk e Oft. 

01 the District Court 01 the LDited stales lor the buuthern Disui'tol New \ork. 



I 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 097 

silver-mounted Derringer pistol, which he carried in his 
right hand, holding a long double-edged dagger in his 
left. All in the box were intent on the proceedings upon 
the stage ; but President Lincoln was leaning forward, 
holding aside the curtain of the box with his left hand, 
and looking, with his head slightly turned, towards the 
audience. Booth stepped within the inner door into the 
box, directly behind the President, and, holding the pis- 
tol just over the back of the chair in which he sat, shot 
him through the back of the head. Mr. Lincoln's head 
fell slightly forward, and his eyes closed, but in every 
other respect his attitude remained unchanged. 

The report of the pistol startled those in the box, and 
Major Rathbone, turning his eyes from the stage, saw, 
through the smoke which filled the box, a man standing 
between him and the President. He instantly sprang 
towards him and seized him ; but Booth wrested himself 
from his grasp, and dropping the pistol, struck at him 
with the dagger, inflicting a severe wound upon his left 
arm, near the shoulder. Booth then rushed to the front 
of the box — shouted "Sic semper tyr minis /" — put his 
hand upon the railing in front of the box, and leaped 
over it upon the stage below. As he went over his spur 
caught in the flag which draped the front, and he fell ; 
but recovering himself immediately, he rose, brandished 
the dagger, and facing the audience, shouted "The South 
is avenged. '" He then rushed across the stage towards the 
passage which led to the stage-door in the rear of the 
theatre. An actor named Hawke was the only person 
on the stage when Booth leaped upon it, and seeing 
Booth coming towards him with the dagger in his hand, 
he ran off the stage and up a flight of stairs. Booth ran 
through the passage-way beside the scenes, meeting one 
or two persons only, whom he struck from his path, went 
out at the door which stood open, and which he closed 
behind him, and mounting a horse which he had brought 
there, and which a lad was holding for him, he rode over 
the Anacosta bridge, across the east branch of the Poto- 
mac, giving his real name to the guard who challenged 



G98 The Life, Public Services, and 

him, and found a temporary refuge among the rebel sym- 
pathizers of Lower Maryland. 

The discharge of the pistol had not apprised the au- 
dience of the real nature of the transaction. By many 
it was supposed to he an incident of the play, and it was 
not until Booth had leaped from the box and crossed the 
stage, that there was any general suspicion of what had 
taken place. Mr. J. B. Stewart, who was seated in the 
orchestra stalls, leaped upon the stage and pursued the 
flying assassin, but he reached the stage-door only in 
time to see him riding off on the horse he had mounted. 
Major Eathbone, seeing that the President was uncon- 
scious, started for assistance through the door which 
Booth had barred. Miss Laura Keene, the leading ac- 
tress in the play, came upon the stage, entered the 
box, and calling on all in the house to keep quiet, 
bathed the head of the unconscious victim, and required 
the crowd to fall back and give him air. The house was 
speedily in confusion — the lights were turned off, and 
the multitude dispersed. Several surgeons soon came 
forward and made an examination of the President' s per- 
son, and as soon as the wound was discovered, he was 
removed from the theatre to the house of Mr. Peterson, 
on the opposite side of Tenth Street, where, in a small 
room on the first floor, he was laid diagonally across a 
large bed. He was at once divested of his clothing ; the 
surgeons in attendance, Surgeon- General Barnes presi- 
ding, examined the wound, and it was at once seen that 
he could not possibly survive many hours. The ball 
had entered on the left side of the head, behind the left 
ear, and three inches from it. Its course was obliquely 
forward, traversing the brain, and lodging just behind 
the right eye. The President was at once surrounded by 
the prominent officers of the Government. Mrs. Lincoln, 
overcome with emotion, was led from the theatre to the 
house where her husband lay. Secretary McCullough, 
Attorney-General Speed, Secretary Welles, Senator Sum- 
ner, and other distinguished gentlemen, remained in the 
room through the night. When first brought into the house 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln, G99 

the President's breathing was regular, "but difficult. This 
continued throughout the night, he giving, with occa- 
sional exceptions, no indications of suffering, and remain- 
ing, with closed eyes, perfectly unconscious. At about 
seven in the morning his breathing became more difficult, 
and was interrupted at intervals sometimes for so long a 
time that he. was supposed to be dead. At twenty-two 
minutes past seven he ceased breathing, and thus expired. 
There was no convulsive action, no rattling in the throat) 
no appearance of suffering of any kind — none of the 
symptoms which ordinarily attend dissolution and add 
to its terrors. From the instant he was struck by the 
ball of the assassin, he had not given the slightest indica- 
tion that he was conscious of any thing that occurred 
around him. 

The news that the President had been shot spread at 
once through the town, and was instantly followed by 
tidings of a murderous assault, still more terrible in its 
details, upon the Secretary of State. We have already 
mentioned the accident by which Mr. Seward was thrown 
from his carriage, and seriously injured. His right arm 
was broken above the elbow, his jaw was fractured, and 
his whole system seriously shattered. For nearly a fort- 
night he had been confined to his bed, unable to swallow 
any thing but liquids, and reduced, by pain and tins 
enforced abstinence, to a state of extreme debility. His 
room was on the third floor of his residence in Madison 
Place, fronting on President Square, and the bed on which 
he lay stood opposite the door by which the room was 
entered, and about ten feet from it. At a few minutes 
past ten — within five minutes of the time when the Pres- 
ident was shot — a man, proved afterwards to be L 
Payne Powell, generally known as Payne, rang at the 
door of Mr. Seward's residence, and said to the coli 
lad who opened it that he had some medicines p] 
for Mr. Seward by Dr. Verdi, his family physician, 
which he must deliver in person. The lad said that 
no one could go up to Mr. Seward's room; but Payne 
pushed him aside and rushed up stairs. He had 



700 The Life, Public Services, and 

reached the third floor, and was about to enter Mr. 
Seward' s room, when he was confronted by Mr. Frederick 
W. Seward, the Secretary's son, to whom he made the 
same statement of his errand. He was refused admis- 
sion, when he drew a pistol and snapped it at Frederick 
without effect ; he then struck him with it upon the head 
twice, with such force as to break the pistol and prostrate 
his victim, fracturing his skull. Hearing the noise, Miss 
Fannie Seward, who was in her father's room, opened the 
door, into which Payne instantly rushed, and, drawing a 
bowie-knife, threw himself upon the bed, and made three 
powerful stabs at the throat of Mr. Seward, who had 
raised himself up at the first alarm, and who instantly 
divined the real nature and intention of the assault. 
Eacli blow inflicted a terrible wound, but, before the 
assassin could deal another, lie was seized around the 
body by an invalid soldier named Robinson, who was in 
attendance as nurse, and who strove to drag the murderer 
from his victim. Payne at once struck at Robinson 
and inflicted upon him several serious wounds, but 
did not succeed in freeing himself from his grasp. 
Mr. "Seward, the instant his murderer's attention was 
withdrawn from him, threw himself off the bed at the 
farther side ; and Payne, finding that his victim was 
thus beyond his reach, broke away from Robinson, 
and rushed to the door. The colored lad in the lower 
hall had run into the street for help, and Miss Fannie 
Seward shouted ' ' Murder!' ' from the upper window. The 
assassin, on reaching the upper hall, met Major Augustus 
Seward, another son of the Secretary, whom he struck 
with his dagger, and on the stairs encountered Mr. 
Hansell, one of the Secretary's attendants, whom he 
stabbed in the back. Forcing his way through all these 
obstacles, he rushed down the stairs, and finding, to his 
surprise, no one there to oppose his progress, he passed 
out at the front door, mounted a horse he had left stand- 
ing in front of the house, and rode leisurely away. 

When the news of this appalling tragedy spread through 
the city, it carried consternation to every heart. Tread- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 701 

ing close on the heels of the President's murder— perpe- 
trated, indeed, at the same instant— it was instinctively 
felt to "be the work of a conspiracy, secret, remorseless, 
and terrible. The Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, had 
left Mr. Seward's bedside not twenty minutes before 
the assault, and was in his private chamber, prepar- 
ing to retire, when a messenger brought tidings of the 
tragedy, and summoned his instant attendance. On his 
way to Mr. Seward's house, Mr. Stanton heard of the 
simultaneous murder of the President, and instantly felt 
that the Government was enveloped in the meshes of a 
conspiracy, whose agents were unknown, and which was 
all the more terrible for the darkness and mystery in 
which it moved. Orders were instantly given to close all 
drinking-shops and all places of public resort in tire city, 
guards were stationed at every point, and all possible 
precautions were taken for the safety of the Vice-Presi- 
dent and other prominent Government officials. A vague 
terror brooded over the population of the town. Men 
whispered to each other as they met, in the gloom of 
midnight, and the deeper gloom of the shadowy crime 
which surrounded them. Presently, passionate indigna- 
tion replaced this paralysis of the public heart, and, but 
for the precautions adopted on the instant by the Govern- 
ment, the public vengeance would have been wreaked 
upon the rebels confined in the Old Capitol" Prison. All 
these feelings, however, gradually subsided, and gave 
way to a feeling of intense anxiety for the life of the 
President. Crowds of people assembled in the neighbor- 
hood of the house where the dying martyr lay, eager for 
tidings of his condition, throughout the night ; and when, 
early in the morning, it was announced that he was dead, 
a feeling of solemn awe filled every heart, and sat, a 
brooding grief, upon every face. 

And so it was through all the length and breadth of 
the land. In every State, in every town, in every 
household, there was a dull and bitter agon} r , as the 
telegraph bore tidings of the awful deed. Everywhere 
throughout the Union, the public heart, bounding with 



702 The Life, Public Services, and 

exultation at the triumphant close of the great war, and 
ready to celebrate with a mighty joy the return of peace, 
stood still with a sacred terror, as it was smitten by the 
terrible tidings from the capital of the Nation. In the 
great cities of the land all business instantly stopped — no 
man had the heart to think of gain — Hags drooped half- 
mast from every winded messenger of the sea, from every 
church spire, from every tree of liberty, and from every 
public building. Masses of the people came together by 
a spontaneous impulse, to look in each other's face-, 
if they could read there some hint of the meaning of these 
dreadful deeds — some omen of the country's fate. Thou- 
sands upon thousands, drawn by a common feeling, 
crowded around every place of public resort, and listened 
eagerlf- to whatever any public speaker chose to say. 
Wall Street, in New York, was thronged by a vast multi- 
tude of men, to whom eminent public officials addres 
words of sympathy and of hope. Gradually as the day 
wore on, emblems of mourning were hung from the win- 
dows of every house throughout the town, and before the 
sun had set every city, throughout the length and breadth 
of tin.' land, to which tidings of the greal calamity bad 
been borne by the telegraph, was enshrouded in the 
shadow of the national grief. < >u the next day. which \ 
Sunday, every pulpit resounded with eloquenl eulogies 
of the murdered President, and with Buch commente on 
his death as faith in an overruling Providence alone could 
prompt. The whole country was plunged into profound 
grief — and none deplored I le which had deprived 

the Nation of h}s head with moi rity than those who 

had been involved in the guilt of the rebellion, and who 
had just begun to appreciate those merciful and forgiving 
elements in Mr. Lincoln's character, who-" exercise they 
themselves would need so soon. 

Immediately after his death, the body of the President 
was removed to the Executive Mansion, embalmed, and 
placed in the Green Room, which had been prepared by 
suitable emblems of mourning for its tion. Near 

the centre of the room stood the grand catafalque, four 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 703 

feet high, upon which rested the mahogany coffin, cov- 
ered with flowers — the last sad offerings of affection — in 
which the body was placed for its final rest. The funeral 
services took place on Wednesday the 19th, and were 
held in the East Room. They were attended by repre- 
sentatives of every department of the Government, and 
were exceedingly impressive and touching. The guard 
of honor, which had watched over the remains of the 
illustrious dead, still maintained its place, with Major- 
General Hunter at its head. Nearest the coffin sat the 
relatives of the President — his children and his wife's 
connections — his widow being too utterly prostrated by 
her grief to leave her room. Deputations from different 
sections of the country, — Governors of States, Members 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, — the Heads 
of the several Executive Departments, with their assist 
ants and clerks, the diplomatic corps and their attaches, 
the Judges of the Supreme and the local Courts, repre- 
sentatives from the Sanitary and Christian Commissions — ■ 
these and many others, whom respect for the departed 
President had brought to his funeral, entered the room 
and took the places assigned them. At twelve o' clock, 
Andrew Johnson, who had become, in consequence of 
this murder, President of the United States, came for- 
ward, followed by all the members of the Cabinet, except 
Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, who lay unconscious of 
the fate of his beloved and revered chief, himself the 
prostrate victim of the same daring and remorseless crime. 
Rev. Dr. Hall, of the Episcopal Church in Washington, 
read the Episcopal Service for the Dead ; a fervent 
prayer was offered by Bishop Simpson of the Metho- 
dist Church, and a funeral discourse was pronounced 
by Rev. Dr. Gurley, pastor of the new Presbyterian 
Church in New York Avenue, which the President and 
his family were in the habit of attending. At the con- 
clusion of the sermon, the Chaplain of the Senate, Rev. 
Dr. Gray, made a prayer, and the religious ceremonies 
were closed. The body of the President was then re- 
moved and placed upon the lofty hearse, surmounted by 



704 The Life, Public Services, akd 

a canopy, and covered with black velvet, which stood in 
front of the Executive Mansion. 

At two o' clock the grand procession started. Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue was completely cleared, from the Executive 
Mansion to the Capitol. Every window along its whole 
length — all the roofs of all the houses — the sidewalks, and 
every accessible spot along the route, were crowded with 
a living throng, awaiting in sad and oppressive silence 
the approach of the funeral-car. The soft, sad strains of 
funereal music soon broke the stillness of the summer air, 
and marshalled the grand military cortege which led the 
way. Then came the hearse, drawn by six gray horses, 
draped in black, and preceded by twenty pall-bearers, 
selected from both Houses of Congress, from the Army 
and Navy, and from civil life, and followed hy a great 
throng of the most eminent officers of the Government, 
and of deputations from every State and section of the 
country, and from benevolent, industrial, and political 
societies throughout the land. Filling Pennsylvania 
Avenue through its whole extent, this great procession — 
marshalled with military precision, and marching to the 
cadence of slow music from many bands — escorted, with 
becoming pomp, the remains of the martyred President 
to the National Capitol, which rose in white grandeur, 
clad, from basement to the summit of its lordly dome, with 
garments of woe, to receive the precious gift. The whole 
vast building was draped in black. All the pillars were 
entwined with crape, — from all the windows hung em- 
blems of mourning, and a black canopy surmounted the 
Eastern door, by which the great concourse was to enter. 
Minute-guns from all the forts around the city thundered 
forth their sad salutations, — the bells from every tower 
and spire rang out in muffled tones their chronicle of the 
stately march. At a little after three o'clock the military 
cortege, which led the procession, entered the open space 
in front of the Eastern entrance. Filing past in proper 
order, the infantry, wheeling, faced the Capitol, — the artil- 
lery took position on the hill opposite the entrance, — the 
cavalry remained in the street, and a great throng of 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 705 

spectators gazed in silence upon the grand display. As 
the funeral-car approached, all the military bands burst 
into a solemn requiem, — the artillery thundered out 
stormy greeting,— the vast crowd, as by a common im- 
pulse, uncovered,— and as Rev. Dr. Gurley, in deep and 
impressive tones, recited the grand sentences in which the 
Church signalizes the departure of her dead, the body of 
President Lincoln was borne into the rotunda and placed 
upon the lofty catafalque prepared for its reception. As 
the recitation closed, President Johnson entered the hall, 
followed by several Senators. Captain Robert Lincoln 
and the family relatives came forward. The President's 
body-guard formed in double column near the body. 
Dr. Gurley made a closing prayer and pronounced the 
benediction. All then left the Rotunda : guards were sta- 
tioned at all the doors. General Augur and his staff took 
charge of the remains, and with drawn swords the officers 
detailed for the service mounted guard over them. As 
night came on, the jets of gas concealed in the height of 
the dome were lighted up, and cast their softened glare 
upon the vigil that was kept below. 

The body of the President remained in the Rotunda, 
exposed to public view, during the night of the 19th, and 
until nine o' clock at night of the succeeding day. Thou- 
sands upon thousands visited the Capital to take a last 
look at his features, and among them were many wound- 
ed soldiers, hobbling from the hospitals, to gaze for the 
last time upon the face of the late Commander-in-Chief. 
A guard of honor remained during the night, and at six 
o'clock on the morning of the 21st, the members of the 
Cabinet and distinguished officers of the army, and many 
members of Congress, paid their final visit to the remains. 
The coffin was then prepared for removal, and closed. 

It had been decided to transfer the President's remains 
to Springfield, Illinois, the place of his residence, for 
final interment ; and the original purpose had been to 
make the transit as rapidly as was convenient, and with- 
out exposure of the body to public view. But this de- 
sign could not be carried out. From every city and town 

45 



703 The Life, Public Services, and 



along the extended route came up a cry of the people to 
be allowed to look upon the face of the great martyr to 
their principles and their national life. This demand 
was conceded, and arrangements were made for a special 
funeral train over all the roads. A car was fitted up with 
great taste and elegance, for the reception of the remains. 
The whole car was draped in "black, the mourning on the 
outside being festooned in double rows above and below 
the windows. At seven o'clock, after a prayer by the 
Rev. Dr. Ghirley, the coffin containing the remains was 
removed from the Rotunda, and escorted to the railroad 
depot, without music, by companies of the Twelfth Yeteran 
Reserve Corps, and followed by Lieutenant- General 
Grant, members of the Cabinet, and other distinguished 
personages. At the depot it was received by President 
Johnson and others, and placed in the rear of the car de- 
signed for its reception. A guard of twenty-one first ser- 
geants of the Yeteran Reserve Corps had been detailed to 
accompany the train ; a large number of gentlemen, who 
had been invited to attend, entered the cars, and at eight 
o'clock, after another prayer by Dr. Gurley, the train, 
embracing seven carriages, all in mourning, and drawn 
by a locomotive also draped with black, slowly moved, 
amid a vast crowd of silent and sad spectators, out of the 
depot towards Baltimore. Under the direction of the 
War Department, a schedule of times of arrival at and 
departure from every place along the route, for the 
whole distance, had been marked out with great preci- 
sion, and was rigidly adhered to. The rate of speed was 
restricted, a pilot engine was sent in advance to observe 
the road, and every possible precaution was adopted for 
the prevention of accidents. As the train moved out of 
the depot, the great multitude reverently uncovered their 
heads, and stood fixed in their grief some moments after 
it had passed away. 

The passage of this great funeral procession, a distance 
of more than a thousand miles, through the largest and 
most populous States and towns of the Union, was one of 
the most remarkable spectacles ever seen on the face 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 707 

of the earth. At every point, for all that great dis- 
tance, vast gatherings of the people assembled to catch 
a glimpse of the passing train ; and at every place win to 
it stopped, and the remains were exposed to view, great 
crowds, such as no other occasion had ever brought to- 
gether before, came to look upon the features of their 
murdered chief. The great cities poured forth their 
population in uncounted masses. In town and country 
every house was hung with mourning — flags drooped at 
half-mast, and inscriptions, filled with touching expres- 
sions of the nation' s sorrow, or glowing with eulogy of 
the departed leader, greeted the eye, and renewed the sor- 
row, of the spectator everywhere. 

At ten o'clock the train entered the depot at Baltimore, 
where, in spite of inclement weather, it was met by an 
immense procession of all ages and classes of people : — 
the coffin was borne through the vast crowd, who stood 
with uncovered heads, to the funeral-car, elegantly 
draped, and its sides composed of plate-glass, which 
awaited its reception in Camden Street. A large and im- 
posing military display, under command of Brigadier- 
General H. H. Lockwood, escorted the remains to the 
Exchange, which had been prepared to receive them, and 
where they were placed upon a raised dais, covered by 
a canopy of black and strewn with rare and choice 
flowers, as a fit resting-place for the illustrious dead. An 
immense crowd surrounded the building, only a small 
portion of whom could possibly gain admittance to look 
upon the corpse. At half-past two the coffin was closed, 
and removed, a large procession following it to the d6pot 
of the jSTorthern Central Railroad Company, from which 
the funeral train departed at three for Harrisburg, the 
capital of Pennsylvania, the Governor of that State being 
one of the attendant mourners. 

Arriving at Harrisburg at eight o'clock in the eveni 
the streets were thronged, in spite of a heavy rain, with 
great crowds of people, who followed the remains to 
the Capitol, where the body lay in state, upon a catafalque 
surmounted by a wreath of flowering almonds. It was 



708 The Life, Public Services, and 

exposed to public view from nine o'clock to midniglit, 
when the coffin was closed until seven in the morning. 
It was then again opened, and thousands of citizens 
passed in to view the body. At Dine o'clock, amid the 
thunder of artillery, a long column of soldiers entered the 
hall for the same purpose. At eleven o'clock the coffin 
was replaced upon the funeral-car, and the train de- 
parted. 

All along the route, in the villages, and along the road- 
side in the country districts, the people gathered in large 
numbers, merely to view the passing train. At Lan- 
caster, not less than twenty thousand were thus assem- 
bled. On either side of the road stood benevolent, reli- 
gious, and working associations, dressed in mourning, 
standing in long lines, and reverently uncovering their 
heads as the funeral-car passed by. As the train ap- 
proached Philadelphia, these demonstrations of respect 
increased. Private residences were draped in mourning, 
and flags drooped from every eminence. At half-past 
four the train reached the depot in Broad Street, and at 
six the majestic procession, formed to escort the remains 
to Independence Hall, commenced its march through 
streets densely filled with people who had gathered from 
every part of the surrounding country ; and at half-past 
nine, before the rear of the procession had left the depot, 
the body of the President was deposited in the hall, 
which first echoed the Declaration of Independence, and 
which was now prepared, with exquisite taste, to receive 
to its sanctuary the great martyr of the Liberty which was 
then proclaimed. In the morning the doors were opened 
for the public, and before daylight lines were formed, 
extending from the Delaware to the Schuylkill, at least 
three miles, of persons awaiting their chance to see the 
corpse. This continued all through the day, and deep 
into the succeeding night. Scenes the most touching and 
impressive marked this farewell visit. The wounded 
soldiers limping in to look at their late commander — 
negroes, old and young, flocking in to see him whom 
they deemed the great deliverer of their race — citizens of 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 709 

every class, of every political party, of every variety of 
opinion on every subject, gathered by a common impulse 
of love and pity, to look upon him whom God had made 
the great leader of the nation in the most perilous crisis 
of its fate. 

At four o'clock, on the morning of the 24th of April; 
the funeral train took its departure for New York. March- 
ing in solemn state through the crowds of people, which 
seemed to line the track all along the route, it reached 
Jersey City, opposite New York, and passed into the 
spacious depot, which had been clad in mourning, to the 
music of a funeral dirge, executed by a choir of seventy 
singers, and under the roar of heavy and loud artillery. 
The coffin was lifted from the car and borne on the 
shoulders of ten stalwart veterans, followed by a proces- 
sion of conspicuous officials, marching to the music of 
" Rest in the Grave," sung by the choral societies, to the 
hearse prepared for its reception. Passing then to the 
ferry-boat, which at once crossed the river, the hearse, 
drawn by six gray horses, heavily draped in black, took 
its place in the procession, headed by General Dix and 
other officers, escorted by the Seventh Regiment, and the 
whole cortege moved, through densely-crowded streets 
and amidst the most impressive display of public and pri- 
vate grief, to the City Hall. At half-past eleven the head 
of the procession entered the Park, and while cannon 
thundered from every fort in and around the harbor, while 
church-bells from every spire pealed out the nation's 
sorrow, and while eight hundred choristers chanted the 
" Cliorus of the Spirits" and filled the charmed air with 
its sadly enchanting melody, the coffin was borne up the 
steps of the City Hall, and placed under the dome, draped, 
decorated, and dimly lighted, upon the plane prepared for 
its reception. The troops then retired ; guards were sta- 
tioned at the head of every stairway and sentries at every 
door. From this time five officers, relieved every two 
hours, kept immediate watch over the body, day and night. 
Soon the 'doors were opened, and entering, one by one, in 
proper order, the citizens of the great metropolis came to 



710 The Life, Public Services, and 

look upon the illustrious dead. All through, that day and 
the succeeding night the endless stream poured in, while 
outside the Park, Broadway, and the entire area of Print- 
ing-House Square, reaching up Chatham Street and East 
Broadway as far as the eye could see, a vast throng of 
people stood silent and hopeless, lbut still expectant, of a 
chance to enter and see the body of the murdered Presi- 
dent. Not less than one hundred and fifty thousand per- 
sons obtained admission, and not less than twice that num- 
ber had waited for it in vain. At twenty minutes to 
twelve on the 25th, the doors were closed. The ap- 
pointed pall-bearers took their place beside the coffin, 
which at one o'clock was lifted and carried, to the 
tolling of the bell and the tap of the drum, out through 
the double line of the Seventh Regiment, and placed 
upon the funeral-car. Escorted by the finest military 
display ever seen in New York, and followed in pro- 
cession by great numbers of her citizens, the car moved 
through the principal streets, in view of a vast con- 
course of people, to the depot of the Hudson River 
Railroad, at the corner of Thirtieth Street and Tenth 
Avenue. When the head of the procession reached the 
depot the column halted and faced to the west ; and as the 
car bearing the body came up, the solemn strains of the 
military bands broke forth, the troops presented arms, 
the vast crowd kept the most profound and impressive 
silence, the coffin, with due ceremonies, was placed upon 
the railway-car, and at four o'clock, to the sound of a 
funeral dirge, the train took its departure. 

It is scarcely worth while to note in detail the demon- 
strations and observances which followed the President's 
remains to their final resting-place. At every point there 
was substantially the same spectacle. Everywhere the 
people gathered in vast numbers to greet the sad procession. 
Everywhere the same sorrow, seeming to be almost the 
expression of a personal and household grief, was shown 
by drooping flags, by houses draped in mourning, by 
touching inscriptions and memorials of the nobleness, the 
integrity, the purity of the departed chief 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 711 

At Albany not less than fifty thousand people visited 
the capitol to view the remains, which were escorted by 
an imposing procession of soldiers and civilians to the 
depot of the Central Railroad. At four o'clock on the 
evening of the 26th the train left for the West. At Utica, 
at Syracuse, at Rochester, at Buffalo, and at every vil- 
lage along the route, crowds of people were assembled. 
At seven o'clock on the evening of the 27th the train 
reached Cleveland, where a procession was formed, reli- 
gious services were held, and the remains were exposed to 
public view. Similar ceremonies attended the arrival at 
Columbus, and at every point of the route, through Indi- 
ana, the same great demonstrations of popular interest and 
sorrow were observed. At Chicago the most extensive 
preparations had been made for the reception of the re- 
mains. On the 1st of May, as the train approached, 
minute-guns and the tolling of bells signalized the event. 
The great multitude stood with uncovered heads as the 
coffin was borne, between the open ranks of the military, 
under the magnificent Gothic arch, which had been erect- 
ed across Park Place, and placed upon the funeral -car. 
Thence it was escorted, by thousands of those who in life 
had known Mr. Lincoln best, marching in procession, to 
the Court-House, where the remains lay in state, and were 
exposed to public view. Thousands upon thousands 
flocked from the surrounding country to look upon them. 
Fresh flowers, the sweet offerings of woman' s love, from 
time to time were strewn upon the coffin. Sad strains of 
music gave voice to the public woe. Addresses were 
made, eulogies pronounced, and in every way and by 
every form the great city of his own State sought to tell 
the world how much she loved and revered the memory 
of her illustrious son. 

On the 3d of May the President's .remains reached 
Springfield, which, for so many of his active years and 
before the nation claimed him, had been his home. Tiny 
were escorted to the State House, borne into the hall of 
the House of Representatives, which had been appropri- 
ately decorated for the occasion, and placed upon a cata- 



712 The Life, Public Services, ajs t d 

falque prepared for its reception. All day and all niglit 
long the streets of that quiet town resounded with the 
footsteps of the thousands who came to look upon the 
corpse of him they loved as a neighbor and friend, and 
whom they now revered as foremost among the mighty 
martyrs of the earth. In the morning minute-guns were 
fired — and, as a choir of two hundred and fifty voices 
sang "Peace, troubled soul" at ten o'clock the coffin 
was closed forever. The remains were then placed in the 
hearse, the procession moved, under command of Major- 
General Hooker, to Oak Ridge Cemetery, and there, 
while the choir sang " Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb,''' 
the sepulchre received to its final rest all that was mortal 
of Abraham Lincoln. Religious exercises were then 
held, Bishop Simpson pronouncing an eloquent and 
appropriate funeral oration, and Rev. Dr. Gurley, of 
Washington, making a closing prayer. 



Thus closed the life and public services of Abraham 
Lincoln. As the condition of the country during his 
Administration made him the most conspicuous figure in 
American history, so did the circumstances of his death 
give him a sad and terrible isolation. It was the first 
time that assassination had sought to aid, or avenge, a 
political cause in the United States, and nothing but the 
terrible fever of civil war could have engendered a crime 
so abhorrent to the American character and the genius of 
republican institutions. The investigation which the 
Government at once set on foot, and prosecuted with the 
utmost vigor, proved that the abduction and assassination 
of Mr. Lincoln had been the topic of speculative conver- 
sation, in various portions of the rebel States, for some 
months previous to its execution. It did not appear, 
however, that the # deed was done by direct procurement 
of the rebel authorities, though it was made more than 
probable that the agents whom they kept in Canada, and 
supplied with large sums- of money, for what they styled 
"detached service" — meaning by that phrase enterprises 
of robbery, murder, and arson, over which they vainly 



«yt 




State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 713 

sought to throw the protection of the laws of war —were at 
least acquainted with the horrible plot, and lent it their 

sanction, if not their aid. But it seems to have originated 
mainly, if not exclusively, with the man who played the 
leading part in its execution. Booth was a son of the 
most distinguished actor of that name, and inherited 
something of his passionate and peculiar nature. He had 
been, from the outbreak of the rebellion, one of its most 
fanatical devotees ; and, as its strength and prospects of 
success began to grow less and less, his mind was ab- 
sorbed in desperate schemes for reviving its fortunes and 
securing its triumph. Papers which he left behind him 
show that he had deliberately dedicated himself to this 
service, long before the surrender of Lee and the virtual 
overthrow of the rebel cause; and what was then a 
desire to aid the rebellion, became, after this was hope- 
less, a desperate determination to avenge its downfall. 
He plotted the murder of Mr. Lincoln, and of the leading 
members of the Government, with the utmost care and 
deliberation, selecting for his assistants men better fitted 
to be tools than confederates, and assuming himself entire 
charge of the enterprise. The meetings of the conspira- 
tors were held at the house of one Mrs. Surratt, in Wash- 
ington ; and detailed arrangements had been made, with 
her assistance, for effecting an escape. Booth according- 
ly, after shooting the President, and escaping across the 
eastern branch of the Potomac River, found temporary 
shelter and aid among the rebel sympathizers of Lower 
Maryland. His movements, however, were greatly em- 
barrassed and retarded by the fracture of his leg, caused 
by his fall as he leaped upon the stage after committing 
the murder; and the agents whom the Government had 
sent in pursuit soon came upon his track, and on the 
night of the 26th of April found him, with one of his 
accomplices, a lad named Harold, who had also been the 
companion of his flight, in the barn of a farmer named 
Garrett, near Port Royal, on the south side of the Rap- 
pahannock, and about ninety miles from Washington. 
Harold surrendered. Booth refusing to do so, and 



714 The Life, Public Services, and 

menacing Lis captors with fire-arms, was shot "by a ser- 
geant of the troop, named Corbett. Several persons, 
implicated more or less directly in the plot, were after- 
wards apprehended, and tried before a military commis- 
sion in the City of Washington. Mrs. Surratt, Harold, a 
man named Atzerott, who was to have killed Vice-Pres- 
ident Johnson, and Payne, the assailant of. Secretary 
Seward, were executed on the 6th of July, and several 
ethers were sentenced to imprisonment for life or a term 
of years, for their share in the conspiracy. As these 
events had nothing to do with the Administration of Mr. 
Lincoln, it does not fall within the scope of this work to 
narrate them in greater detail. 

As might naturally be expected, the horrid crime 
aroused the most intense indignation throughout the 
country. No man, in either section, ventured to become 
its apologist ; and public sentiment, overlooking every 
thing .that was irregular and inconclusive in the proceed- 
ings of the military commission .by whose sentence the 
parties accused of complicity in the murder were con- 
victed and hung, applauded the execution, and gave it 
the sanction of a general and emphatic approval. 

The murder of the President gave still another evidence 
of the stability of our institutions, and of the capacity of our 
people to meet any possible emergency in the conduct of 
their affairs. It occasioned not the slightest pause in the 
stately march of the Government. The Constitution had 
provided that, in the event of the President' s death, the 
functions of his office should devolve upon the Vice- 
President. Accordingly, at ten o'clock on the morning 
of President Lincoln's decease, Andrew Johnson took 
the oath of office, and entered upon the discharge of his 
duties as President of the United States. Not a word was 
uttered, nor a hand lifted, against his accession ; and 
thus, with the silent and cordial acquiescence of the great 
body of the peopie, a crisis was passed which, in other 
countries and in other times, would have shaken govern- 
ments to their foundation ; and the world saw with as- 
tonishment and admiration, that, in war as in peace, in 



State Tapers of Abraham Lincoln. 715 

the most trying crises of a nation's fate as well as in the 
ordinary course of public affairs, a Government "of the 

people, and for the people," was the strongest and the 
safest the world had ever known. 

It forms no part of the object of this work to deal in 
eulogy of President Lincoln and his Administration. Its 
purpose will have been attained if it places his acts and 
words in such a form, that those who read them may 
judge for themselves of the merits and defects of tin ■ j 
he pursued. It was his destiny to guide the nation 
through the stormiest period of its existence. Xo one of 
his predecessors, not even Washington, encountered diffi- 
culties of equal magnitude, or was called to perform 
duties of equal responsibility. He was first elected by a 
minority of the popular vote, and his election was re- 
garded by a majority of the people as the immediate occa- 
sion, if not the cause, of civil war; yet upon him 
volved the necessity of carrying on that war, and of com- 
bining and wielding the energies of the nation for its suc- 
cessful prosecution. The task, under all the circum- 
stances of the case, was one of the most gigantic thai i ver 
fell to the lot of the head of any nation ; — the sum- 
which it was crowned vindicates triumphantly the mamu r 
in which it was performed. 

From the outset, Mr. Lincoln's reliance was upon the 
spirit and patriotism of. the people. He had no overween- 
ing estimate of his own sagacity ; he was quite sensible 
of his lack of that practical knowledge of men and affairs 
which experience of both alone can give ; but he Lad 
faith in the devotion of the people to the principles of 
Republican government, in their attachment to the Con- 
stitution and the Union, and in that intuitive Bagacity of 
a great community which always transcends the most 
cunning devices of individual men, and, in a great and 
perilous crisis, more nearly resembles inspiration than 
mere deductions of the human intellect. At the very < >u t- 
set of his Administration, President Lincoln cast himself, 
without reserve and without fear, upon this reliance. It 
has been urged against him as a reproach that he did not 



716 The Life, Public Services, and 

assume to lead and control public sentiment, Tbut wa8 
content to be the exponent and the executor of its 
will. Possibly an opposite course might haye succeeded, 
but possibly, also, it might have ended in disastrous and 
fatal failure. One thing is certain : the policy which he 
did pursue did not fail. The rebellion did not succeed ; 
the authority of the Government was not overthrown ; no 
new government, resting on slavery as its corner-stone, 
has been established upon this continent, nor has any for- 
eign nation been provoked or permitted to throw its 
sword into the scale against us. On the contrary, the 
policy pursued by Mr. Lincoln has been completely and 
permanently successful — and that fact is conclusive as to 
its substantial wisdom. 

In one respect President Lincoln achieved a wonderful 
success. He maintained, through the terrible trials of his 
Administration, a reputation, with the great body of the 
people, for unsullied integrity of purpose and of conduct, 
which even Washington did not surpass, and which no 
President since Washington has equalled. He had com- 
mand of an army greater than that of any living monarch ; 
he wielded authority less restricted than that conferred 
by any other constitutional government ; he disbursed 
sums of money equal to the exchequer of any nation in 
the world ; yet no man, of any party, believes him in any 
instance to have aimed at his own aggrandizement, to 
have been actuated by personal ambition, or to have con- 
sulted any other interest than the welfare of his country, 
and the perpetuity of its Republican form of government. 
This of itself is a success which may well challenge uni- 
versal admiration, for it is one which is the indispensable 
condition of all other forms of success. No man whose 
public integrity was open to suspicion, no matter what 
might have been his abilities or his experience, could 
possibly have retained enough of public confidence to 
carry the country through such a contest as that from 
which we have just emerged. No President, suspected 
of seeking his own aggrandizement at the expense of his 
country's liberties, could ever have received such enor- 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 717 

mous grants of power as were essential to a successful 
prosecution of the war against the rebellion. They were 
lavishly and eagerly conferred upon Mr. Lincoln, because 
it was known and felt everywhere that he would not 
abuse them. Faction has had in him no mark for its as- 
saults. The weapons of party spirit have recoiled harm- 
lessly from the shield of his unspotted character. 

It was this unanimous confidence in the disinterested 
purity of his character, and in the perfect integrity of his 
public purposes, far more than any commanding intellect- 
ual ability, that enabled Washington to hold the faith 
and confidence of the American people steadfast for seven 
years, while they waged the unequal war required to 
achieve their independence. And it certainly is some- 
thing more than a casual coincidence that this same ele- 
ment, as rare in experience as it is transcendent in impor- 
tance, should have characterized the President upon whom 
devolved the duty of carrying the country through our 
second and far more important and sanguinary struggle. 

!Nb one can read Mr. Lincoln's State papers without 
perceiving in them a most remarkable faculty of ' ' putting 
things " so as to command the attention and assent of the 
common people. His style of thought, as well as of ex- 
pression, was thoroughly in harmony with their habitual 
modes of thinking and of speaking. His intellect was 
keen, emphatically logical in its action, and capable of 
the closest and most subtle analysis ; and he used lan- 
guage for the sole purpose of stating, in the clearest and 
simplest possible form, the precise j(j ea ]± e -fished to 
convey. He had no pride of intellect — not the slightest 
desire for display — no thought or purpose but that of 
making everybody understand precisely what he be- 
lieved and meant to utter. And while this habit may 
sacrifice the graces of style, it gains immeasurably in 
practical force and effect. It gives to his public papers 
a weight and influence with the mass of the people which 
no public man of this country had ever before attained. 
And this was heightened by the atmosphere of humor 
which seemed to pervade his mind, and which was just as 



71 S The Life, Public Services, and 

natural to it, and as attractive and softening a portion of 
it, as the smoky lines of Indian' summer are of the charm- 
ing season to which they "belong. His nature was emi- 
nently genial, and he seemed to "be incapable of cherish- 
ing an envenomed resentment. And although he was 
easily touched by whatever was painful, the elasticity of 
his temper and his ready sense of the humorous broke 
the force of anxieties and responsibilities under which a 
man of harder, though perhaps a higher, nature, would 
have sunk and failed. 

One of the most perplexing questions with which Mr. 
Lincoln had to deal, in carrying on the war, was that of 
slavery. There were two classes of persons who could 
not see that there was any thing perplexing about it, or 
that he ought to have had a moment's hesitation how to 
treat it. One was made up of those who regarded the 
law of slavery as paramount to the Constitution, and the 
rights of slavery as the most sacred of all the rights 
which are guaranteed by that instrument ; the other, of 
those who regarded the abolition of slavery as the one 
thing to be secured, whatever else might be lost. The 
former denounced Mr. Lincoln for having interfered with. 
slavery in any way, for any purpose, or at any time ; the 
latter denounced him, with equal bitterness, for not hav- 
ing swept it out of existence the moment Fort Sumter was 
attacked. In this matter, as in all others, Mr. Lincoln 
acted upon a fixed principle of his own, which he applied 
to the practical conduct of affairs just as fast as the neces- 
sities of the case required, and as the public sentiment 
would sustain his action. His policy from the outset was 
a tentative one — as, indeed, all policies of government, 
to be successful, must always be. On the outbreak of 
the rebellion, the first endeavor of the rebels was to 
secure the active co-operation of all the slaveholding 
States. Mr. Lincoln's first action, therefore, was to with- 
hold as many of those States from joining the rebel Con- 
federacy as possible. Every one can see now that this 
policy, denounced at the time by his more zealous anti- 
slavery supporters as temporizing and inadequate, pre- 



•State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 719 

vented Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, Missouri, and 
part of Virginia from throwing their weight into the rebel 
scale ; and, although it is very easy and very common to 
undervalue services to a cause after its triumph seems 
secure, there are few who will not concede that if these 
States had been driven or permitted to drift into the rebel 
Confederacy, a successful termination of the war would 
have been much more remote and much more doubtful 
than it proved to be. Mr. Lincoln did every thing in 
his power, consistent with fidelity to the Constitution, to 
retain the Border Slave States within the Union ; and the 
degree of success which attended his efforts is the best 
proof of their substantial wisdom. 

His treatment of the slavery question itself was marked 
by the same characteristic features. There was not a man 
living in whose heart the conviction that slavery was 
wrong was more deeply rooted than in his. " If slavery 
is not wrong," said he, "then nothing is wrong." ISTor 
was there one more anxious to use every just and lawful 
means, consistent with the national welfare, to secure its 
extirpation from the soil of the Republic. But in every 
thing he did upon this subject, as upon every other, he 
aimed at practical results, not the indulgence of any 
theory. He used no power over slavery until the emer- 
gency had arisen by which alone its exercise under the 
Constitution could be vindicated ; and he went no further 
and no faster in the steps which he took for its destruc- 
tion, than public sentiment would warrant and sustain 
him in going. He wished to take no step backward, and 
therefore was doubly cautious in his advance. His pol- 
icy secured the final abolition of slavery. It not only 
decreed that result, but it secured it in such a way, and 
by such successive steps, each demanded by the special 
exigency of its own occasion, as commanded the acqui- 
escence of the great body of the slaveholders themselves. 
The views by which his action was governed are stated 
witli characteristic clearness and force in his letter of 
April 4, 1SG4, to Mr. Hodges, of Kentucky,* and they 

* Seo Appendix. 



720 The Life, Public Services, and 

must commend themselves to the approval of all candid 
minds. 

Much has been said of Mr. Lincoln 1 s habit of telling 
glories, and it could scarcely be exaggerated. He had a 
keen sense of the humorous and the ludicrous, and rel- 
ished jokes and anecdotes for the amusement they afford- 
ed him. But story-telling was with him rather a mode 
of stating and illustrating facts and opinions, than any 
thing else. There is a great difference among men in the 
manner of expressing their thoughts. Some are rigidly 
exact, and give every thing they say a logical form. 
Others express themselves in figures, and by illustrations 
drawn from nature or history. Mr. Lincoln often gave 
clearness and force to his ideas by pertinent anecdotes 
and illustrations drawn from daily life. Within a month 
after his first accession to office, when the South was 
threatening civil war, and armies of office-seekers were 
besieging him in the Executive Mansion, he said to the 
writer of these pages that he wished he could get time to 
attend to the Southern question ; he thought he knew 
what was wanted, and believed he could do something 
towards quieting the rising discontent ; but the office- 
seekers demanded all his time. "I am," said he, "like 
a man so busy in letting rooms in one end of his house, 
that he can't stop to put out the fire that is burning the 
other." Two or three years later, when the people had 
made him a candidate for re-election, the same friend 
spoke to him of a member of his cabinet who was a can- 
didate also. Mr. Lincoln said he did not much concern 
himself about that. It was very important to him and 
the country that the department over which his rival 
presided should be administered with vigor and energy, 
and whatever would stimulate the Secretary to such 

action would do good. "K, ," said he, "you were 

brought up on a farm, were you not % Then you know 
what a chin-fly is. My brother and I," he added, "were 
once ploughing corn on a Kentucky farm, I driving the 
horse and he holding plough. The horse was lazy, but 
on one occasion rushed across the field so that I, with my 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 721 

long legs, could scarcely keep pace witli him. On reach- 
ing the end of the furrow, I found an enormous chin-fly 
fastened upon him, and knocked him off. My brother 
asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn't want 
the old horse bitten in that way. 'Why,' said my 
brother, ' that's all that made him go? Now," said Mr. 

Lincoln, "if Mr. has a presidential chin-fly biting 

him, I'm not going to knock him off, if it will only make 
his department go." These, which are given as illustra- 
tions of very much of his conversation, were certainly per- 
tinent and frank. Oftentimes he would resort to anec- 
dotes to turn the current of conversation from some topic 
which he did not wish discussed, greatly to the disgust, 
not unfrequently, of the person who had come to extract 
information which Mr. Lincoln did not choose to impart. 
lie had a habit, moreover, in canvassing public topics, 
of eliciting, by questions or remarks of his own, the views 
and objections of opponents ; and, in debate, he never 
failed to state the positions of his antagonist as fairly, and 
at least as strongly, as his opponent could state them 
himself. 

An impression is quite common that great men, who 
make their mark upon the progress of events and the 
world 1 s history, do it by impressing their own opinions 
upon nations and communities, in disregard and contempt 
of their sentiments and prejudices. History does not sus- 
tain this view of the case. No man ever moulded the 
destiny of a nation except by making the sentiment of 
that nation his ally — by working with it, by shaping his 
measures and his policy to its successive developments. 
But little more than a year before the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was issued, Washington wrote to a friend in 
England that the idea of separation from Great Britain 
was not entertained by any considerable number of the 
inhabitants of the colonies.* If independence had then 
been proclaimed, it would not have been supported by 
public sentiment ; and its proclamation would have ex- 
cited hostilities and promoted divisions which might have 

* Letter to Captain Mackensie, October 9, 1774. 
46 



722 The Life, Public Services, and 

proved fatal to the cause. Time, — the development of 
events, — the ripening conviction of the necessity of such 
a measure, were indispensable as preliminary conditions 
of its success. And one of the greatest elements of Wash- 
ington' s strength was the patient sagacity with which he 
could watch and wait until these conditions were fulfilled. 
The position and duty of President Lincoln in regard to 
slavery were very similar. If he had taken counsel only 
of his own abstract opinions and sympathies, and had 
proclaimed emancipation at the outset of the war, or had 
sanctioned the action of those department commanders 
who assumed to do it themselves, the first effect would 
have been to throw all the Border Slave States into the 
bosom of the slaveholding Confederacy, and add their 
formidable force to the armies of the rebellion ; the next 
result would have been to arouse the political opposition 
in the loyal States to fresh activity by giving it a rally- 
ing-cry ; and the third would have been to divide the 
great body of those who agreed in defending the Union, 
but who did not then agree in regard to the abolition of 
slavery. Candid men, who pay more regard to facts than 
to theory, and who can estimate with fairness the results 
of public action, will have no difficulty in seeing that the 
probable result of these combined influences would have 
been such a strengthening of the forces of the Confederacy, 
and such a weakening of our own, as might have over- 
whelmed the Administration, and given the rebellion a 
final and a fatal victory. By awaiting the development 
of public sentiment, President Lincoln secured a support- 
absolutely essential to success ; and there are few per- 
sons now, whatever may be their private opinions on 
slavery, who will not concede that his measures in regard 
to that subject were adopted with sagacity, and prose- 
cuted with a patient wisdom which crowned them with 
final triumph. 

In his personal appearance and manners, in the tone 
and tendency of his mind and in the fibre of his generaJ 
character, President Lincoln presented more elements of 
originality than any other man ever connected with the 



State Papers of Abraham Lincoln. 723 

government of this country. He was tall and thin, angu- 
lar and ungraceful in his motions, careless in dress, un- 
studied in manner, and too thoroughly earnest and hearty, 
in every thing he said or did. to be polished and polite. 
But there was a native grace, the out-growth of kindness 
of heart, which never failed to shine through all his 
words and acts. His heart was as tender as a woman' s, — ■ 
as accessible to grief and gladness as a child's, — yet 
strong as Hercules to bear the anxieties and responsibil- 
ities of the aAvful burden that rested on it. Little inci- 
dents of the war, — instances of patient suffering in devo- 
tion to duty, — tales of distress from the lips of women, 
never failed to touch the innermost chords of his nature, 
and to awaken that sweet sympathy which carries with 
it, to those who suffer, all the comfort the human heart can 
crave. Those who have heard him, as many have, relate 
such touching episodes of the war, cannot recall without 
emotion the quivering lip, the face gnarled and writhing 
to stifle the rising sob, and the patient, loving eyes swim- 
ming in tears, which mirrored the tender pity of his 
gentle and loving nature. He seemed a stranger to the 
harsher and stormier passions of man. Easily grieved, he 
seemed incapable of hate. Nothing could be truer than 
his declaration, after the heated political contest which 
secured his re-election, that he had "never willingly 
planted a thorn in any human breast," — and that it was 
not in his nature to exult over any human being. It is 
first among the marvels of a marvellous time, that to such 
a character, so womanly in all its traits, should have 
been committed, absolutely and with almost despotic 
power, the guidance of a great nation through a bloody 
and terrible civil war ; and the success which crowned 
his labors proves that, in dealing with great communities, 
as with individuals, it is not the stormiest natures that 
are most prevailing, and that strength of principle and of 
purpose often accompanies the softest emotions of the 
human heart. 

Nothing was more marked in Mr. Lincoln's personal 
demeanor than its utter unconsciousness of his position. 



724 Life and Public Services of Abraham Lincoln. 

It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find another man 
who would not, upon a sudden transfer from the obscu- 
rity of private life in a country town to the dignities and 
duties of the Presidency, feel it incumbent upon him to 
assume something of the manner and tone befitting that 
position. Mr. Lincoln never seemed to be aware that his 
place or his business were essentially different from those 
in which he had always been engaged. He brought to 
every question, — the loftiest and most imposing, — the 
same patient inquiry into details, the same eager longing 
to know and to do exactly what was j ust and right, and the 
same working-day, plodding, laborious devotion, which 
characterized his management of a client's case at his law 
office in Springfield. He had duties to perform in both 
places — in the one case to his country, as to his client 
in the other. But all duties were alike to him. All 
called equally upon him for the best service of his mind 
and heart, and all were alike performed with a conscien- 
tious, single-hearted devotion that knew no distinction, 
but was absolute and perfect in every case. 



Mr. Lincoln' s place in the history of this country will 
be fixed quite as much by the importance of the events 
amidst which he moved, and the magnitude of the results 
which he achieved, as by his personal characteristics. 
The Chief Magistrate whose administration quelled a re- 
bellion of eight millions of people, set free four millions 
of slaves, and vindicated the ability of the people, under 
all contingencies, to maintain the Government which rests 
upon their will, whose wisdom and unspotted integrity 
of character secured his re-election, and who, finally, 
when his work was done, found his reward in the mar- 
tyrdom which came to round his life and set the final 
seal upon his renown, will fill a place hitherto unoccu- 
pied in the annals of the world. 




FUNERAL ARCH ON THE HUDSON, 



ANECDOTES AND REMINISCENCES 



OF 



PRESIDENT LINCOLN 



BY FRAXK B. CAEPEXTER. 



I went to Washington the last week in February, 18G4, for the 
purpose of carrying out my cherished project of painting the scene 
commemorative of the first reading in cabinet council of the Emanci- 
pation Proclamation. To my friends, Samuel Sinclair and F. A. Laue, 
of New York, the Honorable Schuyler Colfax, and Honorable Owen 
Lovejoy, shall I ever be indebted for the opening up of the way f ft 
the successful accomplishment of this undertaking. Through the 
latter gentleman arrangements were made with the President and Mrs. 
Lincoln, by which the spacious "State dining-room" of the Executive 
Mansion was placed at my disposal for a studio, in order that I might 
enjoy every facility for studying my subjects from the life. 

The painting of the picture occupied about six months. It em 
braced full-length life-size portraits of the President and entire cabinet, 
and portrays, as faithfully as I was capable of rendering it, the scene as 
it transpired in the old cabinet chamber of the White House, when the 
Act of Emancipation first saw the light. 

My relations with Mr. Lincoln of course became of an intimate 
character. Permitted the freedom of his private office at almost all 
hours, I was privileged to see and know more of his daily life than 
has perhaps fallen to the lot of any one not sustaining to him domestic 
or official relations. 

In compiling a chapter of anecdotes, I have endeavored to embrace 
only those which bear the marks of authenticity. Many iu this col- 
lection I myself heard the President relate; others were communi- 
cated to me by persons who cither heard or took part in them. Sev- 



726 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

eral have bad a wide circulation, in connection with subjects of interest 
at different times which called thein out. The reminiscences are mainly 
my own, and are taken, for the most part, from articles contributed on 
various occasions, siuce the assassination, to the public press. 

MR. LINCOLN'S SADNESS. 

Many persons formed their impressions of the late President from 
the stories in circulation attributed to him, and consequently supposed 
him to have been habitually of a jocund, humorous disposition. There 
was this element in his nature in a large degree, but it was U13 sparkle 
and ripple of the surface. Underneath was a deep undercurrent of 
sadness, if not melancholy. When most depressed, it was his way 
frequently to seek relief in some harmless pleasantry. I recollect an 
instance related to me, by a radical member of the last Congress. It 
was during the dark days of 1862. He called upon the President early 
one morning, just after news of a disaster. Mr. Lincoln commenced 
telling some trifling incident, which the Congressman was in no mood 
to hear. He rose to his feet, and said, " Mr. President, I did not 
come here this morning to hear stories ; it is too serious a time." Iu- 
etantly the smile disappeared from Mr. Lincoln's face, who exclaimed, 

" A , sit down ! I respect you as an earnest, sincere man. You 

cannot be more anxious than I am constantly, and I say to you now, 
that were it not for this occasional vent, I should die !" 

It has been the business of my life to study the human face, and I 
have said repeatedly to friends that Mr. Lincoln had the saddest face I 
ever attempted to paint. During some of the dark days of the spring 
and summer of 1864, I saw him at times when his care-worn, troubled 
appearance was enough to bring tears of sympathy into the eves of 
his most bitter opponents. I recall particularly one day, when, having 
occasion to pass through the main hall of the domestic apartments, I 
met him alone, pacing up and down a narrow passage, his hands be- 
hind him, his head bent forward upon his breast, heavy black rings 
under his eyes, showing sleepless nights — altogether such a picture of 
the effects of sorrow and care as I have never seen ! 

"No man," says Mrs. Stowc, "has suffered more and deeper, albeit 
with a dry, weary, patient pain, that seemed to some like insensibility, 
than President Lincoln." " Whichever way it ends," he said to her, 
" I have the impression that / shan't last long after it is over." 

After the dreadful repulse of Fredericksburg, he is reported to havo 
said : " If there is a man out of perdition that suffers more than I do, 
I pity him." 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 727 

The Honorable Schuyler Colfax, in his funeral oration at Chicago, 
Baid of him : — 

"He bore the nation's perils, and trials, and sorrows, ever on his 
mind. You know him, in a large degree, by the illustrative stories 
of which his rrremory and his tongue were so prolific, using them to 
point a moral, or to soften discontent at his decisions. But this was 
the mere badinage which relieved him for the moment from the heavy 
weight of public duties and responsibilities under which he often 
wearied. Those whom he admitted to his confidence, ani with whom 
he conversed of his feelings, knew that his inner life was checkered 
with the deepest anxiety and most discomforting solicitude. Elated 
by victories for the cause which was ever in his thoughts, reverses to 
our arms cast a pall of depression over him. One morning, over two 
years ago, calling upon him on business, I found him looking more 
than usually pale and careworn, and inquired the reason. He replied, 
with the bad news he had received at a late hour the previous 
night, which had not yet been communicated to the press — he had 
not closed his eyes or breakfasted; and, with an expression I shall 
never forget, he exclaimed, ' How willingly would I exchange places 
to-day with the soldier who sleeps on the ground in the Army of the 
Potomac !' " 

He may not have looked for it from the hand of an assassin, but he 
felt sure that his life would end with the war lonor a^o. " He told 

*! CO 

me," says a correspondent of the Boston Journal, " that he was 
certain he should not outlast the rebellion." It was in last July. As 
will be remembered, there was dissension then among the Republican 
leaders. Many of his best friends had deserted him, and were talking 
of an opposition convention to nominate another candidate ; and uni- 
versal gloom was among the people. 

The North was tired of the war, and supposed an honorable peace 
attainable. Mr. Lincoln knew it was not — that any peace at that time 
would be only disunion. Speaking of it, he said : " I have faith in the 
people. They will not consent to disunion. The danger is, they are 
misled. Let them know the truth, and the country is safe." He 
looked haggard and careworn ; and further on in the interview I re- 
marked on his appearance, " You arc wearing yourself out with work." 
" I can't work less," he answered ; " but it isn't that — work never 
troubled me. Things look badly, and I can't avoid anxiety. Person- 
ally I care nothing about a re-election, but if our divisions defeat us, I 
fear for the country." When I suggested that right must eventually 
triumph; that I had never despaired of the result, he said, " Neither 



728 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

have I, hut I may never live bo see it. I feel a presentiment that I 
shall not outlast the rebellion. When it is over, my work will be 
done." 

HIS FAVORITE POEM. 

The evening of March 22d, 1864, was a most interesting one to inc. 
I was with the President alone in his office for several hours. Busy 
with pen and papers when I went in, he presently threw Miein aside 
and commenced talking to me of Shakspeare, of whom he was very 
fond. Little " Tad," his son, coming in, he sent him to the library 
for a copy of the plays, and then read to me several of his favorite 
passages. Relapsing into a sadder strain, he laid the book aside, and 
leaning back in his chair, said: — 

" There is a poem which has been a great favorite with me for years, 
which was first shown to me when a young man by a friend, and which 
I afterwards saw and cut from a newspaper and learned by heart. I 
would," he continued, " give a great deal to know who wrote it, but 
I have never been able to ascertain." 

Then, half closing his eyes, he repeated the verses to me. Greatly 
pleased and interested, I told him I would like some time to write 
them down. A day or two afterwards, he asked me to accompany him 
to the temporary studio in the Treasury Department of Mr. Swayne, 
the sculptor, who was making a bust of him. While " sitting," it oc- 
curred to me that then would be a good opportunity to secure the 
lines. He very willingly complied with my request to repeat them, 
and, sitting upon some books at his feet, as nearly as I remember, I 
wrote the verses down, one by one, as he uttered them :* — 

Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? — 
Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud, 
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, 
He passeth from life to his rest in the grave'. 

The leaves of the oak and the willow shall fade, 

Be scattered around, and together be laid ; 

And the young and the old, and the low and the high, 

Shall moulder to dust, and together shall lie. 

The infant a mother attended and loved ; 
The mother, that infant's affection who proved 

* The authorship of this poem has been made known since its publication in the Evening 
Post. It was written by William Knox, a ybnng Scotchman, a contemporary of Sir Walter 
Bcott — who thought highly of his promise. He died quite young. 

The two verses in brackets were not repeated by Mr. Lincoln, but belong to the original 
poeni. 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 729 

The husband, that mother and infant who blest, — 
Each, all, are away to their dwellings of rest. 

[The maid on whose cheek, on whose brow, in whose eye, 
Shone beauty and pleasure — her triumphs are by; 
And the memory of those who loved her and praised, 
Are alike from the minds of the living erased.] 

The hand of the king, that the sceptre hath borne, 
The brow of the priest, that the mitre hath worn, 
The eye of the sage, and the heart of the brave, 
Are hidden and lost in the depths of the grave. 

The peasant, whose lot was to sow and to reap, 
The herdsman, who climbed with his goats up the steep, 
The beggar, who wandered in search of his bread, 
Have faded away like the grass that we tread. 

[The saint, who enjoyed the communion of heaven, 
The sinner, who dared to remain unforgiven, 
The wise and the foolish, the guilty and just, 
Have quietly mingled their bones in the duet.] 

So the multitude goes — like the flower or the weod, 
That withers away to let others succeed ; 
So the multitude comes — even those we behold, 
To repeat every tale that has often been told : 

For we are the same our fathers have been; 
We see the same sights our fathers have seen ; 
"We drink the same stream, we vie*v the same sun, 
And run the same course our fathers have run. 

The thoughts we are thinking, our fathers would think ; 
From the death we are shrinking, our fathers would shrink ; 
To the life we are clinging, they also would cling — 
But it speeds from us all like a bird on the wing. 

They loved — but the story we cannot unfold ; 
They scorned — but the heart of the haughty 13 cold ; 
They grieved — but no wail from their slumber will come ; 
They joyed — but the tongue of their gladness is dumb. 

They died — ay, they died — we things that are now, 
That walk on the turf that lies over their brow, 
And make in their dwellings a transient abode, 
Meet the thiug3 that they met on their pilgrimage road. 

i'eal hope and despondency, pleasure and pain, 
Are mingled together in sunshine and rain ; 



730 The Life op Abraham Lincoln. 

And the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge, 
Still follow each other, like surge upon surge. 

"Tis the wink of an eye, — 'tis the draught of a breath ; 
From the blossom of health to the paleness of death, 
From the gilded saloon to the bier and the shroud : — 
Oh I why should the spirit of mortal be proud ? 

Discussing briefly the merits of this poem, and its probable author- 
ship, Mr. Lincoln continued : — 

" There are some quaint, queer verses, written, I think, by Oliver 
TVendenHolmes, entitled ' The Last Leaf,' one of which is to me inex- 
pressibly touching." lie then repeated these also from memory. The 
verse he referred to occurs in about the middle of the poem, and 
is this : — 

" The mossy marbles rest 
On the lips that he has pressed 

In their bloom, 
And the names he loved to hear 
Have been carved for many a year 

On the tomb." 

As he finished this verse he said, in his emphatic way: "For pure 
pathos, in my judgment, there is nothing finer than those six lines in 
the English language !" 

Mr. R. McCormick, in some " Reminiscences," published in the 
Evening Post, says that Mr. Lincoln was fond of the works of Robert 
Burns; and although I myself never heard him allude to the great 
Scottish poet, I can readily conceive that it may have been true. 
"There was something," says Mr. McCormick, " in the humble origin 
of Burns, and in his checkered life, no less than in his tender, homely 
Bongs, that appealed to the great heart of the plain man who, trans- 
ferred from the prairies of Rlinois to the Executive Mansion at Wash- 
ington at a time of immense responsibility, gave a fresh and memora- 
ble illustration of the truth that 

1 The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
The man's the gowd for a' that.' " 

HIS RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 

There is a very natural and proper desire, at this time, to know 
something of the religious experience of the late President. Two or 
three stories have been published in this connection, which I have 
never yet been able to trace to a reliable source, and I feel impelled to 
Bay here, that I believe the facts in the case — if there were such — have 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 731 

been added unto, or unwarrantably embellished. Of all men in the, ; 
world, Mr. Lincoln was the most unaffected and truthful, lie rarely 
or never used language loosely or carelessly, or for the sake of compli- 
ment. He was the most utterly indifferent to, and unconscious of, 
the effect he was producing, either upon official representatives, or the 
common people, of any man ever in public position. 

Mr. Lincoln could scarcely be called a religious man, in the common 
acceptation of the term, and yet a sincerer Christian I believe never 
lived. A constitutional tendency to dwell upon sacred things ; an 
emotional nature which finds ready expression in religious couve-- 
sation and revival meetings ; the culture and development of the de- 
votional element till the expression of religious thought and experi- 
ence becomes almost habitual, were not among his characteristics. 
Doubtless he felt as deeply upon the great questions of the soul and 
eternity as any other thoughtful man, but the very tenderness aud hu- 
mility of his nature would not permit the exposure of his inmost con- 
victions, except upon the rarest occasions, and to his most intimate 
friends. And yet, aside from emotional expression, I believe no man 
had a more abiding sense of his dependence upon God, or faith in the 
Divine government, and in the power and ultimate triumph of Truth 
and Right in the world. In the language of an eminent clergyman of 
this city, who lately delivered an eloquent discourse upon the life and 
character of the departed President, " It is not necessary to appeal to 
apocryphal stories, in circulation in the newspapers — which illustrate 
as much the assurance of his visitors as the simplicity of his faith — 
for proof of Mr. Lincoln's Christian character." If his daily life and 
various public addresses and writings do not show this, surely nothing 
can demonstrate it. 

But while inclined, as I have said, to doubt the truth of some of 
the statements published on this subject, I feel at liberty to relate an 
incident, which bears upon its face unmistakable evidence of truthful- 
ness. A lady interested in the work of the Christian Commission had 
occasion, in the prosecution of her duties, to have several interviews 
with the President of a business nature. He was much impressed 
with the devotion and earnestness of purpose she manifested, and 
on one occasion, after she had discharged the object of her visit, 

he said to her : " Mrs. , I have formed a very high opinion 

of your Christian character, and now, as we are alone, I have 
mind to ask you to give me, in brief, your idea of what cons' 
tutes a true religious experience." The lady replied at some length, 
stating that, in her judgment, it consisted of a conviction of one's own 



732 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

. sinfulness and weakness, and personal need of the Saviour for strength 
and support; that views of mere doctrine might and would differ, but 
when one was really brought to feel his need of Divine help, and to 
seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance, it was sat- 
isfactory evidence of his having been born again. This was the sub- 
stance of her reply. When she had concluded, Mr. Lincoln was very 
thoughtful for a few moments. He at length said, very earnestly, " If 

.what you have told me is really a correct view of this great subject, I 
think I can say with sincerity, that I hope I am 'a Christian. I had 
lived," he continued, " until my boy Willie died, without realizing fully 
these things. That blow overwhelmed me. It showed me my weak- 
ness as I had never felt it before, and if I can take what you have 
stated as a test, I think I can safely say that I know something of that 
change of which you speak; and I will further add, that it has been my 
intention for some time, at a suitable opportunity, to make a public 
religious profession !" 

A clergyman, writing to the Friends' Review of Philadelphia, gives 
the following interesting incident : — 

" After visiting schools, and holding meetings with the freed- 
people, and attending to other religious service south of Wash- 
ington and in that city I felt that I must attend to manifest 
duty, and offer a visit in Gospel love to our noble President ; it 
was immediately granted, and a quarter past six that evening was 
fixed as the time. Under deep feeling I went ; my Heavenly 
Father went before and prepared the way. The President gave us a 
cordial welcome, and after pleasant, instructive conversation, during 
which he said, in reference to the freedmen, 'If I have been one of the 
instruments in liberating this long-suffering, down-trodden people, I 
thank God for it' — a precious covering spread over us. The good 
man rested his head upon his hand, and, under a precious, gathering 
influence, I knelt in solemn prayer, lie knelt close beside me, and I 
felt that his heart went with every word as utterance was given. I 
afterwards addressed him, and when we rose to go, he shook my hand 
heartily, and thanked me for the visit." 

Mr. Noah Brooks, one of Mr. Lincoln's most intimate personal 
friends, in an admirable article in Harper s Magazine, gives the fol- 
lowing reminiscence of his conversation : — 

"Just after the last Presidential election he said, 'Being only mor- 
tal, after all I should have been a little mortified if I had been beaten 
in this canvass before the people ; but that sting would have been more 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 733 

than compensated by the thought that the people had notified me that 
all my official responsibilities were soon to be lifted off my back.' In 
reply to the remark that he might remember that in all these cares ho 
was daily remembered by those who prayed, not to be heard of men, 
as no man had ever before been remembered, he caught at the homely 
phrase, and said, 'Yes, I like that phrase "not to be heard of men," 
and guess it is generally true as you say ; at least, I have been told so, 
and I have been a good deal helped by just that thought.' Then he 
solemnly and slowly added, 'I should be the most presumptuous block- 
head upon this footstool, if I for one day thought that I could discharge 
the duties which have come upon me since I came into this place, 
without the aid and enlightenment of One who is stronger and wiser 
than all others.' " 

By the Act of Emancipation Mr. Lincoln built for himself forever 
the first place in the affections of the African race in this country. The 
love and reverence manifested for him by many of these poor, ignorant 
people has, on &ome occasions, almost reached adoration." One day 
Colonel McKaye, of New York, who tad been one of a committee to 
investigate the condition of the freedmen, upon his return from Hilton 
Head and Beaufort, called upon the President, and in the course of 
the interview mentioned the following incident : — 

He had been speaking of the ideas of power entertained by these 
people. They had an idea of God, as the Almighty, and they had 
realized in their former condition the power of their masters. Up to 
the time of the arrival among them of the Union forces, they had no 
knowledge of any other power. Their masters fled upon the approach 
of our soldiers, and this gave the slaves the conception of a power 
greater than their masters exercised. This power they called "Massa 
Linkum." Colonel McKaye said that their place of worship was a 
large building which they called "the praise house," and the leader 
of the " meeting," a venerable black man, was known as " the praise 
man." On a certain day, when there was quite a large gathering of 
the people, considerable confusion was created by different persons 
attempting to tell who and what " Massa Linkum" was. In the midst 
of the excitement the white-headed leader commanded silence. 
" Brcderin," said he, "you don't know nosen' what you'se talkin' 
'bout. Now, you just listen to me. Massa Linkum, he ebery whar. 
He know ebery ting." Then, solemnly looking up, he added: "He 
walk de earf like de Lord ! " 

Colonel McKaye told me that Mr. Lincoln was very much affected 
by this account. He did not smile, as another might have done, but 



734 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

got up from his chair and walked in silence two or three times across 
the floor. As he resumed his scat, he said, very impressively, "It ia 
a momentous thing to be the instrument, under Providence, of the 
liberation of a race !" 

" At another time, he said cheerfully, ' I am very sure, that if I do 
not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, for 
having learned here what a very poor sort of a man I am.' Afterwards, 
referring to what he called a change of heart, he said he did not re- 
member any precise time when he passed through any special change 
of purpose, or of heart; but, he would say, that his own election to 
office, and the crisis immediatly following, influentially determined him 
in what he called ' a process of crystallization,' then going on in his 
mind. Reticent as he was, and shy of discoursing much of his own 
mental exercises, these few utterances now have a value with those who 
knew him, which his dying words would scarcely have possessed." 

Says Rev. Dr. Thompson, of N^w York : — " A calm trust in God was 
the loftiest, worthiest characteristic in the life of Abraham Lincoln, 
lie had learned this long ago. ' I would rather my son would be abla 
to read the Bible than to own a farm, if he can't have but one,' said hia 
godly mother. That Bible was Abraham Lincoln's guide." 

"Mr. Jay states that, being on the steamer which conveyed the gov- 
ernmental party from Fortress Monroe to Norfolk, after the destruction of 
the Merrimac, while all on board were excited by the novelty of the excur- 
sion and by the incidents that it recalled, he missed the President from 
the company, and, on looking about, found him in a quiet nook, read- 
ing a well-worn Testament. Such an incidental revelation of his relig- 
ious habits is worth more than pages of formal testimony." 

When Mr. Lincoln visited New York in 18G0, he felt a great interest 
in many of the institutions for reforming criminals and saving the 
young from a life of ciime. Among others, he visited, unattended, the 
Five Points' House of Industry, and a teacher in the Sabbath-school 
there gives the following account of the event: — 

"One Sunday morning I saw a tall, remarkable-looking man enter 
the room and take a seat among us. He listened with fixed attention 
to our exercises, and his countenance expressed such genuine interest 
that I approached him and suggested that he might be willing to say 
something to the children. He accepted the invitation with evident 
pleasure ; and, coming forward, began a simple address, which at onco 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 735 

fascinated every little bearer and hushed the room into silence. Ilis 
language was strikingly beautiful, and his tones musical with intense 
feeling. The little faces would droop into sad conviction as he uttered 
sentences of warning, and would brighten into sunshine as he spoke 
cheerful words of promise. Once or twice he attempted to close his 
remarks, but the imperative shout of ' Go on ! 0, do go on !' would 
compel him to resume. As I looked upon the gaunt and sinewy frame 
of the stranger, and marked his powerful head and determined features, 
now touched into softness by the impressions of the moment, I felt an 
irrepressible curiosity to learn something more about him, and while 
he was quietly leaving the room I begged to know his name. lie 
courteously replied, ' It is Abraham Lincoln, from Illinois.' " 

In the article in Harper's Magazine already quoted from above, Mr. ' 
Brooks says : — 

" On Thursday of a certain week, two ladies, from Tennessee, 
came before the President, asking the release of their husbands, 
held as prisoners of war at Johnson's Island. They "were put off until 
Friday, when they came again, and were again • put off until Saturday. 
At each of the interviews one of the ladies urged that her husband was 
a religious man. On Saturday, when the President ordered the release of 
the prisoner, he said to this lady, ' You say your husband is a religious 
man ; tell him, when you meet him, that I say I am not much of a 
judge of religion, but that in my opinion the religion which sets men 
to rebel and fight against their Government, because, as they think, 
that Government does not sufficiently help some men to' eat their bread 
in the sweat of other men's faces, is not the sort of religion upon which 
people can get to heaven.' " 

The Western Christian Advocate says: — "On the day of the receipt 
of the capitulation of Lee, as we learn from a friend intimate with 
the late President Lincoln, the cabinet meeting was held an hour earlier 
than usual. Neither the President nor any member w T as able, for a 
time, to give utterance to his feelings. At the suggestion of Mr. Lin- 
coln all dropped on their knees, and offered, in silence and in tears, 
their humble and heartfelt acknowledgments to the Almighty for the 
triumph He had granted to the National cause." 

HIS SYMPATHY. 

A large number of those whom he saw every clay came with appeals 
to his feelings in reference to relatives and friends in confinement and 
uuder sentence of death. It was a constant marvel to me that, with 



73 G The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

all his other cares and duties, he could give so much time and be so 
patient with this multitude. I have known him to sit for hours lis 
tening to details of domestic troubles from poor people — much of which, 
of course, irrelevant — carefully sifting the facts, and manifesting as 
much anxiety to do exactly right as in matters of the gravest interest. 
Poorly-clad people were more likely to get a good hearing than those 
who came in silks and velvets. No one was ever turned away from his 
door because of poverty. If he erred, it was sure to be on the side 
of mercy. It was one of his most painful tasks to confirm a sentence 
of death. I recollect the case of a somewhat noted rebel prisoner, 
who had been condemned to death, I believe, as a spy. A strong ap- 
plication had been made to have his sentence commuted. While this 
was pending, he attempted to escape from confinement, and was shot 
by the sentinel on guard. Although lie richly deserved death, Mr. 
Lincoln remarked in my presence, that " it was a great relief to him 
that the man took his fate into his own hands." 

"No man in our era," says Mr. Colfax, "clothed with such vast power, 
has ever used it so mercifully. No ruler holding the keys of life and 
death, ever pardoned so many and so easily. When friends said to 
him they wished he had more of Jackson's sternness, he would say, 
1 1 am just as God made me, and cannot change.' It may not be gen- 
erally known that his door-keepers had standing orders from him that 
no matter how great might be the throng, if either senators or repre- 
sentatives had to wait, or to be turned away without an audience, he 
must see, before the day closed, every messenger who came to him with 
a petition for the saving of life." 

A touching instance of his kindness of heart was told me incident- 
ally by one of the servants. A poor woman from Philadelphia, had 
been waiting, with a baby in her arras, for three days to see the Presi- 
dent. Her husband had furnished a substitute foi the army, but somo 
time afterwards became intoxicated while with some companions, and 
in this state was induced to enlist. Soon after he reached the army 
he deserted, thinking that, as he had provided a substitute, the Govern- 
ment was not entitled to his services. Returning home, he was, of 
course, arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be shot. The sen- 
tence was to be executed on Saturday. On Monday his wife left her 
home with her baby, to endeavor to see the President. Said old 
Daniel, " She had been waiting here three days, and there was no chance 
for her to get in. Late in the afternoon of the third day the President 
was going through the back passage to his private rooms, to get a cup 
of tea or take some rest." (This passage-way has lately Deen con- 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 737 

structed, avid shuts the person passing entirely out of view of tre 
occupants of the ante-room,) " On Lis way through lie heard the 
baby cry. He instantly went back to his office and rang the bell. 
' Daniel,' said he, ' is there a woman with a baby in the ante-room ?' I 
said there was, and if he would allow me to say it, I thought it was a 
case he ought to see ; for it was a matter of life and death. Said he, 
'Send her to me at once.' She went in, told her story, and the Presi- 
dent pardoned her husband. As the woman came out from his pres- 
ence, her eves were lifted and her lips moving in prayer, the tears 
streaming down her cheeks." Said Daniel, " I went up to her, and 
pulling her shawl, said, ' Madam, it was the baby that did it !' " 

Another touching incident occurred, I believe, the same week. A 
woman in a faded shawl and hood, somewhat advanced in life, at length 
■was admitted, in her turn, to the President. Her husband and three sons 
all she had in the world, enlisted. Her husband had been killed, and 
she had come to ask the President to release to her the oldest son. 
Being satisfied of the truthfulness of her story, he said, " Certainly, if 
her prop was taken away she was justly entitled to one of her boys.'' 
He immediately wrote an order for the discharge of the young man. 
The poor' woman thanked him very gratefully, and went away. On 
reaching the army she found that this son had been in a recent engage- 
ment, was wounded, and taken to a hospital. She found the hospital, 
but the boy was dead, or died while she was there. The surgeon in 
charge made a memorandum of the facts upon the back of the Presi- 
dent's order, and, almost broken-hearted, the poor woman found her 
way again into his presence. lie was much affected by her appearance 
and story, and said, " I know what you wish me to do now, and I shall 
do it without your asking : I shall release to you your second son." 
Upon this he took up his pen and commenced writing the order. 
While he was writing the -poor woman stood by his side, the tears 
running down her face, and passed her hands softly over his head, 
stroking his rough hair, as I have seen a fond mother caress a soyi. 
By the time he had finished writing his own heart and eyes were full. 
He handed her the paper. " Now," said he, " you have one and /one 
of the other two left ; that is no more than right." She took the paper, 
and reverently placing her hand again upon his head, the tears still 
upon her cheeks, said, " The Lord bless you. Mr. President! May you 
Eve a thousand years, and always be the head of this great nation !" 

One day the Hon. Thaddeus Stevens called with an elderly lady, in 
great trouble, whose son had been in the army, but for some oflenco 

47 



738 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

had been court-martialled, and sentenced either to death or imprison- 
ment at hard labor for a long terra, I do not recollect which. There 
were some extenuating circumstances, and after a full hearing the Pres- 
ident turned to the representative and said : " Mr. Stevens, do you 
think this is a case which will warrant my interference ?" " With my 
knowledge of the facts and the parties," was the reply, '« I should 
have no hesitation in granting a pardon." " Then," returned Mr. Lin 
coin, " I will pardon him," and he proceeded forthwith to execute the 
paper. The gratitude of the mother was too deep for expression, save 
by her tears, and not a word was said between her and Mr. Stevens until 
they were half way down the stairs on their passage out, when she sud- 
denly broke forth in an excited manner with the words, " I knew it was 
a copperhead lie !" " What do you refer to, madam ?" asked Mr. Ste- 
vens. " Why, they told me he was an ugly-looking man," she re- 
plied, with vehemence. " He is the handsomest man I ever saw iu 
my life !" And surely for that mother, and for many another through- 
out the land, no carved statue of ancient or modern art, in all its 
symmetry, can have the charm which will forevermore encircle that 
care-worn but gentle face, expressing as was never expressed before, 
" Malice towards none — Charity for all." 

M. Laugel, in the Revue ties Deux Monies, relates from personal 
observation one or two interesting incidents : — 

" A soldier's wife reduced almost to destitution by the absence 
of her husband, sought to obtain his discharge from the army — 
this, Mr. Lincoln told her was beyond his power; but he listened 
patiently to the poor creature's tale of suffering and sorrow, cheered 
her and comforted her, reminded her how not herself alone, but 
the nation generally, were passing through a season of trial, and 
dismissed her not only with many kind and thoughtful words, but 
with substantial proofs of sympathy." A beautiful and touching 
picture M. Laugel places before us of Mr. Lincoln, in that fatal 
theatre — months before the real tragedy which ended his life — 
listening to that representation of manly sorrow in "King Lear" — with 
his little son pressed close to his ample breast, at times answering 
patiently the little prattling fellow — then showing iu every feature how 
keenly he felt the great dramatist's representation of the sorrows of 
paternity. To him Shakspeare was, as to all true men, a great teacher, 
whose words cannot be heard too often, and cannot be rendered more 
powerful by any extrinsic circumstances. " It matters not to me," he 
said one day, " whether Shakspeare be well or ill acted ; with him, tlo 
thought suffices." 



Anecdotes ajsd Reminiscences. 739 

Here is a characteristic touch, of humor as well as pathos ; — the inci- 
dent is strictly true : — ■ 

A distinguished citizen of Ohio had an appointment with the Presi- 
dent one evening at six o'clock. As he entered the vestibule of the 
White House, his attention was attracted by a poorly-clad young woman 
who was violently sobbing. He asked her the cause of her distress. 
She said she had been ordered away by the servants, after vainly wait- 
ing many hours to see the President about her only brother, who had 
been condemned to death. Her story was this : — She and her brother 
were foreigners, and orphans. They had been in this country several 
years. Her brother enlisted in the army, but, through bad influences, 
was induced to desert. He was captured, tried, and sentenced to be 
shot — the old story. The poor girl had obtained the signatures of 
some persons who had formerly known him, to a petition for a pardon, 
and alone had come to Washington to lay the case before the Presi- 
dent. Thronged as the waiting-rooms always were, she had passed 
the long hours of two days trying in vain to get an audience, and had 
at length been ordered away. 

The gentleman's feelings were touched. He said to her that he had 
come to see the President, but did not know as he should succeed. He 
told her, however, to follow him up-stairs, and he would see what could 
be done for her. Just before reaching the door, Mr. Lincoln came out, 
and meeting his friend said good-humoredly, " Are you not ahead of 
time ?" The gentleman showed him his watch, with the hand upon the 
hour of six. "Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, " I have been so busy 
to-day that I have not had time to get a lunch. Go in, and' sit down ; 
I will be back directly." 

The gentleman made the young woman accompany him into the 
office, and when they were seated, said to her, " Now, my good girl, I 
want you to muster all the courage you have in the world. When the 
President comes back, he will sit down in that arm-chair. I shall get up 
to speak to him, and as I do so you must force yourself between us, 
and insist upon his examination of your papers, telling him it is a case 
of life and death, and admits of no delay." These instructions were 
carried out to the letter. Mr. Lincoln was at first somewhat surprised 
at the apparent forwardness of the young woman, but observing her 
distressed appearance, he ceased conversation with his friend, and com- 
menced an examination of the document she had placed in his hands. 
Grlancing from it to the face of the petitioner, whose tears had broken 
forth afresh, he studied its expression for a moment, and then his eye 
fell upon her scanty but neat dress. Instantly his face lighted up. 



740 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

"My poor girl," said lie, "you have come here with no governor, or 
senator, or member of Congress, to plead your cause. You seem 
honest and truthful ; and you don't wear hoops — and I will be whipped 
but I will pardon your brother." 

Though kind-hearted almost to a fault, nevertheless he always en- 
deavored to bo just. A member of Congress called upon him one day 
with the brother of a deserter who had been arrested. The excuse 
was that the soldier had been home on a sick-furlough, and that he 
afterwards became partially insane, and had consequently failed to 
return and report in proper time. He was on his way to his regiment 
at the front to be tried. The President at once ordered him to be 
stopped at Alexandria and sent before a board of surgeons for exami- 
nation as to the question of insanity. "This seemed to me so proper," 
said the representative, " that I expressed myself satisfied. But on 
going out, the brother, who was anxious for an immediate discharge, 
said to me, ' The trouble with your President is, that he is so afraid 
of doing something wrong.' " 

A correspondent of the JVew York Times, writing from Kentucky, 
gives the following : — 

" Among the large number of persons waiting in the room tc 
speak with Mr. Lincoln, on a certain day in November last, was a 
small, pale, delicatedooking boy about thirteen years old. Tho 
President saw him standing, looking feeble and faint, and said : — 
' Come here, my boy, and tell me what you want.' The boy advanced, 
placed his hand on the arm of the President's chair, and with bowed 
head and timid accents said: 'Mr. President, I have been a drummer 
in a regiment for two years, and my colonel got angry with me and 
turned me off; I was taken sick, and have been a long time in hospi- 
tal. This is the first time I have been out, and I came to see if you 
could not do something for me.' The President looked at him kindly 
and tenderly, and asked him where he lived. 'I have no home,' answered 
the boy. 'Where is your father V 'He died in the army,' was th© 
reply. ' Where is your mother ?' continued the President. ' My 
mother is dead also. I have no mother, no father, no brothers, no 
sisters, and,' bursting into tears, 'no friends — nobody cares for me.' 
Mr. Lincoln's eyes filled with tears, and he said to him, ' Can't you sell 
newspapers ?' ' No,' said the boy, ' I am too weak, and the surgeon 
of the hospital told me I must leave, and I have no money, and no 
place to go to.' The scene was wonderfully affecting. The President 
drew forth a card, and addressing on it certain officials to whom his 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 741 

request was law, gave special directions 'to care for this poor boy.' 
The wan face of the little drummer lit up with a happy smile as ho 
received the paper, and he went away convinced that he had ouc good 
and true friend, at least, in the person of the President." 

Mr. Van Alen, of New York, writing to the Evening Post, relates 
the following : — 

"I well remember one day when a poor woman sought, with tho 
persistent affection of a mother, for the pardon of her son con- 
demned to death. She was successful in her petition. When she 
had left the room, he turned to me and said : ' Perhaps I have done 
wrong, but at all events I have made that poor woman happy. 1 " 

One night Schuyler Colfax left all other business to ask him to 
respite the son of a constituent, who was sentenced to be shot, at 
Davenport, for desertion. He heard the story with his usual patience, 
though he was wearied out with incessant calls, and anxious for rest, 
and then replied: — "Some of our generals complain that I impair dis- 
cipline and subordination in the army by my pardons and respites, but 
it makes me rested, after a hard day's work, if I can find some good 
excuse for saving a man's life, and I go to bed happy as I think how 
joyous the signing of my name will make him and his family and his 
friends." And with a happy smile beaming over that care-furrowed 
face, he signed that name that saved that life. 

Said the Rev. Dr. Storrs, in his eulogy upon Mr. Lincoln, pronounced 
at the Brooklyn Academy of Music : — 

"Of course his sensibilities came gradually to be under the con- 
trol of his judgment, and the councils of others constrained him 
sometimes to a severity which he hated ; so that at length the 
order for the merited restraint or punishment of public offenders 
was frequently, though always reluctantly, ratified by him. But 
his sympathy with men, in whatever condition, of whatever opinions, 
in whatever wrongs involved, was so native and constant, and so con- 
trolling, that he was always not so much inclined as predetermined 
to the mildest and most generous theory possible. And some- 
thing of peril as well as promise was involved to the public in this 
element of his nature. He would not admit that he was in danger of 
the very assassination by which at last his life was taken, and only 
yielded with a protest to the precautions which others felt bound to 
take for him ; because his own sympathy with men was so strong that 
he could not believe that any would meditate serious harm to him. 



7-12 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

The public policy of his administration was constantly in danger of 
being- too tardy, lenient, pacific toward those who were combined fur 
deadly battle against the Government, because he was so solicitous to 
win, so anxious to bless, and so reluctant sharply to strike. ' Sic sem- 
per tyrannis /' shouted his wild theatric assassin, as he leaped upon the 
stage, making the ancient motto of Virginia a legend of shame forever- 
more. But no magistrate ever lived who had less of the tyrant in his 
natural or his habitual temper. In all the veins of all his frame no 
drop of unsympathetic blood found a channel. When retaliation 
seemed the only just policy for the Government to adopt to save its 
soldiers from being shot in cold blood or* being starved into idiocy, it 
was simply impossible for him to adopt it. And if he had met the 
arch-conspirators face to face, those who had racked and really enlarged 
the English vocabulary to get terms to express their hatred and dis- 
gust toward him individually — those who were striking with desperate 
blows at the national existence — it would have, been hard for him not 
to greet them with open hand and a kindly welcome. The very ele- 
ment of sadness, which was so inwrought with his mirthfulness and 
humor, and which will look out on coming generations through the 
pensive lines upon his face and the light of bis pathetic eyes, came 
into his spirit or was constantly nursed there through his sympathy 
with men, especially with the oppressed and the poor. He took upon 
himself the sorrows of others. He bent in extremest personal suffering 
under the blows that fell upon his countrymen. And when the bloody 
rain of battle was sprinkling the trees and the sod of Virginia during 
successive dreary campaigns, his inmost soul felt the baptism of it, and 
was sickened with grief. 'I cannot bear it,' he said more than once, 
as the story was told him of the sacrifice made to secure some result. 
No glow even of triumph coidd expel from his eyes the tears occasioned 
by the suffering that had bought it !" 

Too much has not been said of his uniform meekness and kindness 
of heart, but there would sometimes be afforded evidence that one 
grain of sand too much would break even this camel's back. Among 
the callers at the White House one day, was an officer who had 
been cashiered from the service. He had prepared an elaborate de- 
fence of himself, which he consumed much time in reading to the 
President. When he had finished, Mr. Lincoln replied, that even upon 
his own statement of the case the facts would not warrant executive 
interference. Disappointed, and considerably crest-fallen, the man 
withdrew. A few days afterward he made a second attempt to alter 
the President's convictions, going over substantially the same ground, 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 743 

and occupying about the same space of time, but without accomplish 
ing his cud. The third time he succeeded in forcing himself into Mr. 
Lincoln's presence, who with great forbearance listened to another repe- 
tition of the case to its conclusion, but made no reply. Waiting for a 
moment, the man gathered from the expression of his countenance that 
his mind was unconvinced. Turning very abruptly, he said: "Well, 
Mr. President, I see that you are fully determined not to do me jus- 
tice I" This was too aggravating even for Mr. Lincoln. Manifesting, 
however, no more feeling than that indicated by a slight compression 
of the lips, he very quietly arose, laid down a package of papers he 
held in his hand, and then suddenly seizing the defunct officer by the 
coat-collar, he marched him forcibly to the door, saying, as he ejected 
him into the passage : " Sir, I give you fair warning never to show 
yourself in this room again. I can bear censure, but not insult !" In 
a whining tunc the man begged for his papers which he had dropped. 
"Begone, sir," said the President; "your papers will be sent to you. 
I never wish to see your face again !" 

Late one afternoon a lady with two gentlemen were admitted. She 
had come to ask that her husband, who was a prisoner of war, might 
be permitted to take the oath and be released from confinement. To 
secure a degree of interest on the part of the President, one of the 
gentlemen claimed to be an acquaintance of Mrs. Lincoln; this, how- 
ever, received but little attention, and the President proceeded to ask 
what position the lady's husband held in the rebel service. "Oh," 
said she, "he was a captain. " A cajrtain" rejoined Mr. Lincoln ; 
" indeed, rather too big a fish to set free simply upon his taking the 
oath ! If he was an officer, it is proof positive that he has been a 
zealous rebel ; I cannot release him." Here the lady's friend reiterated 
the assertion of his acquaintance with Mrs. Lincoln. Instantly the 
President's hand was upon the bell-rope. The usher in attendance 
answered the summons. "Cornelius, take this man's name to Mis. 
Lincoln, and ask her what she knows of him." The boy presently 
returned, with the reply that " the Madam'''' (as she was called by the 
servants) knew nothing of him whatever. " It is just as I suspected," 
said the President. The party made one more attempt to enlist his 
sympathy, but without effect. " It is of no use," was the reply. " I 
cannot release him !" and the trio withdrew in high displeasure. 

HIS HUMOR, SHREWDNESS, AND SENTIMENT. 
It has been well said by a profound critic of Shakspeare, and it 
occurs to me as very appropriate in this connection, that " the spirit 



744 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

which held the woe of Lear and the tragedy of Hamlet would have 
broken, had it not also had the humor of the Merry Wives of Windsor 
and the merriment of the Midsummer Night's Dream." This is as 
true of Mr. Lincoln as it was of Shakspeare. The capacity to tell 
and enjoy a good anecdote no doubt prolonged his life. I have often 
heard this asserted by one of his most intimate friends. And the 
public impression of his fecundity in this respect was not exaggerated. 
Mr. Beecher once observed to me of his own wealth of illustration, that 
he " thought in figures," or, in other words, that an argument habitu- 
ally took on that form in Ids mind. This was pre-eminently true of 
Mr. Lincoln. The " points " of his argument were driven home in this 
way as they coidd be in no other. In the social circle this character- 
istic had full play. I never knew him to sit down with a friend for a 
five minutes' chat, without being "reminded" of one or more inci- 
dents about somebody alluded to in the course of the conversation. 
In a corner of his desk he kept a copy of the latest humorous work ; 
and it was frequently his habit, when greatly fatigued, annoyed, or 
depressed, to take this up and read a chapter, with great relief. 

The Saturday evening before he left Washington to go to the front, 
just previous to the capture of Richmond, I was with him from seven 
o'clock till nearly twelve. It had been one of his most trying days. 
The pressure of office-seekers was greater at this juncture than I ever 
knew it to be, and he was almost worn out. Among the callers that 
evening was a party composed of two senators, a representative, an 
ex-lieutenant-governor of a Western State, and several private citizens. 
They had business of great importance, involving the necessity of the 
President's examination of voluminous documents. Pushing every 
thing aside, he said to one of the party, " Have you seen the Nasby 
papers?" "No, I have not," was the answer; "who is Nasby?" 
"There is a chap out in Ohio," returned the President, "who has been 
writing a series of letters in the newspapers over the signature of Pe- 
troleum V. Nasby. Some one sent me a pamphlet collection of them 
the other day. I am going to write to ' Petroleum ' to come down 
here, and I intend to tell him if he will communicate his talent to me, 
I will swap places with him !" Thereupon he arose, went to a drawer 
in his desk, and, taking out the " Letters," sat down and read one 
to the company, finding in their enjoyment of it the temporary ex- 
citement and relief which another man would have found in a glass 
of wine. The instant he had ceased, the book was thrown aside, his 
countenance relapsed into its habitual serious expression, and the busi- 
ness was entered upon with the utmost earnestness. 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 7-15 

Just here, I may say with propriety, and I feel that it is due to Mr. 
Lincoln's memory to state, that, during the entire period of my stay 
in Washington, after witnessing his intercourse with almost all classes 
of people, including governors, senators, members of Congress, offi- 
cers of the army, and familiar friends, I cannot recollect to have ever 
heard him relate a circumstance to any one of them all that would 
have been out of place uttered in a ladies' drawing-room! I am aware 
that a different impression prevails, founded it may be in some instances 
upon facts; but where there is one fact of the kind I am persuaded that 
there are forty falsehoods, at least. At any rate, what I have stated is 
voluntary testimony, from a stand-point, I submit, entitled to respect- 
ful consideration. 

Among his stories freshest in my mind, one which he related to me 
shortly after its occurrence, belongs to the history of the famous inter- 
view on board the River Queen, at Hampton Roads, between himself 
and Secretary Seward, and the rebel Peace Commissioners. It was 
reported at the time that the President told a " little story " on that 
occasion, and the inquiry went around among the newspapers, "What 
was it ?" The New York Herald published what purported to be a 
version of it, but the "point" was entirely lost, and it attracted no 
attention. Being in Washington a few days subsequent to the inter- 
view with the Commissioners (my previous sojourn there having ter- 
minated about the first of last August), I asked Mr. Lincoln, one day, 
" if it was true that he told Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell a story." 
" Why, yes," he replied, manifesting some surprise, " but has it leaked 
out ? I was in hopes nothing would be said about it, lest some over- 
sensitive people should imagine there was a degree of levity in the 
intercourse between us." He then went on to, relate the circumstances 
which called it out. " You see," said he, "we had reached and were 
discussing the slavery question. Mr. Hunter said, substantially, that 
the slaves, always accustomed to an overseer, and to work upon com- 
pulsion, suddenly freed, as they would be if the South should consent 
to peace on the basis of the ' Emancipation Proclamation,' would pre- 
cipitate not only themselves but the entire Southern society into 
irremediable ruin. No work would be done, nothing would be cul- 
tivated, and both blacks and whites would starve!" Said the Presi- 
dent, " I wailed for Seward to answer that argument, but as he was 
silent, I at length said: "Mr. Hunter, you ought to know a great deal 
better about this matter than /, for you have alwavs lived under the 
slave system. I can only say, in reply to your statement of the case, 
that it reminds me of a man out in Illinois, by the name of Case, who 



746 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

undertook, a few years ago, to raise a very large herd of Logs. Tt 
was a great trouble to feed them, and how to get around this was a 
puzzle to him. At length he hit on the plan of planting an immense 
field of potatoes, and, when they were sufficiently grown, he* turned 
the whole herd into the field, and let them have full swing, thus saving 
not only the labor of feeding the hogs, but also that of digging the 
potatoes ! Charmed with his sagacity, he stood one day leaning 
against the fence, counting his hogs, when a neighbor came along. 
' Well, well,' said he, 'Mr. Case, this is all very fine. Your hogs are 
doing very well jnst now, but you know out here in Illinois the frost 
comes early, and the ground freezes for a foot deep. Then what are 
they going to do V This was a view of the matter Mr. Case had not 
taken into account. Butchering-time for hogs was 'way on in Decem- 
ber or January ! He scratched his head, and at length stammered, 
' Well, it may come pretty hard -on their snouts, but I don't see but 
that it will be ' root, hog, or die !' " 

The simplicity and absence of all ostentation on the part of Mr. 
Lincoln, is well illustrated by an incident which occurred on the occa- 
sion of a visit he made to Commodore Porter, at Fortress Monroe. 
Noticing that the banks of the river were dotted with flowers, he said : 
" Commodore, Tad" (the pet name for his youngest son, who had 
accompanied him on the excursion) " is very fond of flowers ; won't you 
let a couple of men take a boat and go with him for an hour or two, 
along the banks of the river, and gather the flowers ?" Look at 
this picture, and then endeavor to imagine the head of a European 
nation making a similar request, in this humble way, of one of hia 

subordinates ! 

• 

One day I took a couple of friends from New York up-stairs, who 
wished to be introduced to the President. It was after the hour for 
business calls, and Ave found him alone, and, for once, at leisure. Soon 
after the introduction, one of my friends took occasion to indorse, 
very decidedly, the President's Amnesty Proclamation, which had 
been severely censured by many friends of the Administration. Mr. 

S 's approval touched Mr. Lincoln. He said, with a great' deal of 

emphasis, and with an expression of countenance I shall never forget, 
" When a man is sincerely penitent for his misdeeds, and gives satis- 
factory evidence of. the same, he can safely be pardoned, and there 
is no exception to the rule !" 

Shortly afterwards, he told us this story of "Andy Johnson," as he 
was familiarly in the habit of calling him. It was a few weeks prior 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 747 

to tfte Baltimore Convention, before it was known that Governor John- 
son would be the nominee for the Vice-Presidency. Said he, " I had 
a visit last night from Colonel Moody, ' the fighting Methodist parson,' 
as he is called in Tennessee. He is on his way to the Philadelphia 
Conference, and, being in Washington over-night, came up to see me. 
He told me," he continued, " this story of Andy Johnson and General 
Buel, which interested me intensely. Colonel Moody was in Nashville 
the day that it was reported that Buel had decided to evacuate the 
city. The rebels, strongly re-enforced, were said to be within two 
days' march of the capital. Of course, the city was greatly excited. 
Said Moody, ' I went iu search of Johnson, at the edge of the evening, 
and found him at his office, closeted with two gentlemen, who were 
walking the floor with him, one on each side. As I entered, they 
retired, leaving me alone with Johnson, who came up to me, mani- 
festing intense feeling, and said, " Moody, we are sold out ! Buel is a 
traitor ! He is going to evacuate the city, and in forty-eight hours wo 
shall all be in the hands of the rebels." Then he commenced pacing tho 
floor again, twisting his hands, and chafing like a caged tiger, utterly 
insensible to his friend's entreaties to become calm. Suddenly ho 
turned and said, "Moody, can you pray?" "That is my business, sir, 
as a minister of the Gospel," returned the Colonel. " Well, Moodv, I 
wish you would pray," said Johnson ; and instantly both went down 
upon their knees, at opposite sides of the room. As the prayer be- 
came fervent, Johnson began to respond in true Methodist style. 
Presently he crawled over on his hands and knees to Moody's side, 
and put his arm over him, manifesting the deepest emotion. Closino- 
the prayer with a hearty ' Amen !' from each, they arose. Johnson 
took a long breath, and said, with emphasis, " Moody, I feel better !" 
Shortly afterwards he asked, " Will you stand by me ?" " Certainly, 
I will," was the answer. " Well, Moody, I can depend upon you ; you 
are one in a hundred thousand !" He then commenced pacing the 
floor again. Suddenly he wheeled, the current of his thought having 
changed, and said, " Oh ! Moody, I don't want you to think I have 
become a religious man because I asked you to pray. I am sorry to 
say it, but I am not, and have never pretended to be, religious. No 
one knows this better than you; but, Moody, there is one thing about 
it — I do believe in Almighty God ! And I believe also in the Bible, 
and I say, damn me, if Nashville shall be surrendered !" ' " 
And Nasliville was not surrendered ! 

Judge Baldwin, of California, being in Washington, called one day 
on General Halleek, and, presuming upon a familiar acquaintance io 



748 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

California a few years since, solicited a pass outside of our lines to seo 
a brother in Virginia, not thinking that he would meet with a re- 
fusal, as both his brother and himself were good Union men. " Wo 
have been deceived too often," said General Halleck, " and I regret I 
can't grant it." Judge B. then went to Stanton, and was very briefly 
disposed of with the same result. Finally, he obtained an interview 
with Mr. Lincoln, and stated his case. " Have you applied to Gen- 
eral Halleclc ?" inquired the President. " Yes, and met with a flat 
refusal," said Judge B. " Then you must see Stanton," continued the 
President. " I have, and with the same result," was the reply. 
"Well, then," said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, "I can do nothing; for 
you must know that I have very little influence with this Administration." 

One bright morning, last May, the Sunday-school children of the 
city of Washington, marching in procession on " anniversary " day, 
passed in review through the portico on the north side of the White 
House. The President stood at the open window above the door, 
responding with a smile and a bow to the lusty cheers of the little 
folks as they passed. Hon. Mr. Odell, always wide awake when Sun- 
day-school children are around, with one or two other gentlemen, 
stood by his side as I joined the group. It was a beautiful sight ; the 
rosy-cheeked boys and girls, in their " Sunday's best," with banners 
and flowers, all intent upon seeing the President, and, as they caught 
sight of his tall figure, cheering as if their very lives depended upon 
it ! After enjoying the scene for some time, making pleasant remarks 
about a face that now and then struck him, Mr. Lincoln said : " I heard 
a story last night about Daniel Webster when a lad, which was new 
to me, and- it has been running in my head all the morning. When 
quite young, at school, Daniel was one day guilty of a gross violation 
of the rules. Be was detected in the act, and called up by the teacher 
for punishment. This was to be the old-fashioned ' feruling ' of the 
hand. His hands happened to be very dirty. Knowing this, on his 
way to the teacher's desk he spit upon the palm of his right hand, 
wiping it off upon the side of his pantaloons. ' Give me your hand, 
sir,' said the teacher, very sternly. Out went the right hand, partly 
cleansed. The teacher looked at it a moment, and said, ' Daniel, it 
you will find another hand in this school-room as filthy as that, I will 
let you off this time!' Instantly from behind his back came the left 
hand. ' Here it is, sir,' was the ready reply. 'That will do,' said tho 
teacher, ' for this time ; you can take your seat, sir !' " 

A new levy of troops required, on a certain occasion, the appoint- 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 749 

merit of a large additional number of brigadier and major generals. 
Among the immense number of applications, Mr. Lincoln came upon 
one -wherein the claims of a certain worthy (not in the service at all) 
"for a generalship" were glowingly set forth. But the applicant 
didn't specify whether he wanted to be brigadier or major general. 
The President observed this difficulty, and solved it by a lucid in- 
dorsement. The clerk, on receiving the paper again, found written 
across its back, "Major-General, I reckon. A. Lincoln." 

It is said that, on the occasion of a serenade, the President was 
called for by the crowd assembled. He appeared at a window with 
his wife (who is somewhat below the medium height), ami made the 
following "brief remarks:" " Here I am, and here is Mrs. Lincoln. 
That's the long and the short of it." 

Soon after the opening of Congress last winter, ray friend, the Hon. 
Mr. Shaunon, from California, made the customary call at the "White 
House. In the conversation that ensued, Mr. Shannon said :" Mr. 
President, I met an old friend of yours in California last summer, a 
Mr. Campbell, who had a good deal to say of your Springfield life." 
" Ah !" returned Mr. Lincoln, " I am glad to hear of him. Campbell 
used to be a dry fellow- in those days," he continued. " For a time he 
was Secretary of State. One day during the legislative vacation, a 
meek, cadaverous-looking man, with a white neckcloth, introduced 
himself to him at his office, and, stating that he had been informed 
that Mr. C. had the letting of the hall of representatives, he wished to 
secure it, if possible, for a course of lectures he 'desired to deliver in 
Springfield. ' May I ask,' said the Secretary, ' what is to be the sub- 
ject of your lectures?' ' Certainly,' was the reply, with a very solemn 
expression of countenance, ' The course I wish to deliver is on the 
Second Coming of our Lord.' ' It is of no use,' said C. ; 'if you will 
take my advice, you will not waste your time in this city. It is my 
private opinion that, if the Lord has been in Springfield once, He will 
never come the second time !' " 

Some gentlemen were once finding fault with the President because 
certain Generals were not given commands. " The fact is," replied 
Mr. Lincoln, "I have got more pegs than I have holes to put them iD." 

A clergvman from Springfield, Illinois, being in Washington early in 
Mr. Lincoln's administration, called upon him, and in the course of 
conversation asked him what was to be his policy on the slavery ques- 



750 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

tion. u Well," said the President, " I will answer, by telling you a 
story. You know Father B., the old Methodist preacher ? and you 
know Fox River and its freshets ? Well, once in the presence of 
Father B., a young Methodist was worrying about Fox River, and ex- 
pressing fears that he should be prevented from fulfilling some of his 
appointments by a freshet in the river. Father B. checked him in his 
gravest manner. Said he : ' Young man, I have always made it a rule 
in my life not to cross Fox River till I get to it !' And," added Mr. 
Lincoln, " I am not going to worry myself over the slavery question 
till I get to it." 

" I shall ever cherish among the brightest memories of my life," 
says Rev. Dr. J. P. Thompson, " the recollection of an hour in his 
working-room last September, which was one broad sheet of sunshine,. 
He had spent the morning poring over the returns of a court-martial 
upon capital cases, and studying to decide them according to truth ; 
and upon the entrance of a friend, he threw himself into an attitude 
of relaxation, and sparkled with good-humor. I spoke of the rapid 
rise of Union feeling since the promulgation of the Chicago platform, 
and the victory at Atlanta; and the question was started, which had 
contributed the most to the reviving of Union sentiment — the victory 
or the platform. " I guess," said the President, " it was the victory ; 
at any rate, I'd rather have that repeated." 

Being informed of the death of John Morgan, he said, " Well, I 
wouldn't crow over anybody's death ; but I can take this as resignedly 
as any dispensation of Providence." 

My attention has been two or three times called to a paragraph 
now going the rounds of the newspapers concerning a singular appa- 
rition of himself in a looking-glass, which Mr. Lincoln is stated to 
have seen on the day he was first nominated at Chicago. The story 
as told is made to appear very mysterious, and believing that the taste 
for the supernatural is sufficiently ministered unto without perverting 
the facts, I will tell the story as the President told it to John Hay, the 
assistant private secretary, and myself. We were in his room too-cther 
about dark, the evening of the Baltimore Convention. The gas had 
just been lighted, and he had been telling us how he had that after- 
noon received the news of the nomination of Andrew Johnsou for 
Vice-President before he heard of his own. 

It seemed that the dispatch announcing his renomination had been 
sent to his office from the War Department while he was at lunch. 
Directly afterward, without going back to the official chamber, he pro- 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 751 

ceedcd to the War Department While there, the telegram came 
announcing the nomination of Johnson. "What," said lie to the oper- 
ator, "do they nominate a Vice-President before tbey do a President?" 
"Why," replied the astonished official, "have you not heard of your 
own nomination? It was sent to the White House two hours ago" 
"It is all right," replied the President; "I shall probably find it on 
my return." 

Laughing pleasantly over this incident, he said, soon afterward : " A 
very singular occurrence took place the day I was nominated at Chi- 
cago, four years ago, which I am reminded of to-night. In the after- 
noon of the day, returning home from down town, I went up-stairs to 
Mrs, Lincoln's sitting-room. Feeling somewhat tired, I lay down 
upon a couch in the room, directly opposite a bureau upon which was 
a looking-glass. As I reclined, my eye fell upon the glass, and I saw 
distinctly two images of myself, exactly alike, except that one was a 
little paler than the other. I arose, and lay down again, with the 
same result. It made me quite uncomfortable for a few moments; but 
some friends coming in, the matter passed out of my mind. The next 
day, while walking in the street, I was suddenly reminded of the cir- 
cumstance, and the disagreeable sensation produced by it returned. I 
had never seen any thing of the kind before, and did not know what tc 
make of it. I determined to go home and place myself in the same 
position, and if the same effect was produced, I would make up my 
mind that it was the natural result of some principle of refraction or 
optics which I did not understand, and dismiss it. I tried the experi- 
ment, with the same result, and as I had said to myself, accounting for 
it on some principle unknown to me, it ceased to trouble me. But," 
said he, " some time ago I tried to produce the same effect here, by 
arranging a glass and couch in the same position, without success." 
He did not say, as is asserted in the story as printed, that either he or 
Mrs. Lincoln attached any omen to it whatever. Neither did he say 
the double reflection was seen while he was walking about the room. 
On the contrary, it was only visible in a certain position, and at a cer- 
tain angle, and therefore, he thought, could be accounted for upon scien 
tific principles. 

A distinguished public officer being in Washington, in an interview 
with the President, introduced the question of emancipation. " Well, 
you see," said Mr. Lincoln, " we've got to be very cautious how we 
manage the negro question. If we're not, we shall be like the barber 
out in Illinois, who was shaving a fellow with a hatchet face and lan- 
tern iaws like mine. The barber stuck his finder in his customer's 



752 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

mouth to make his cheek stick out, hut -while shaving away he cut 
through the fellow's cheek and cat off his own finger ! If we are not 
very careful, we shall do as the barber did !" 

At the White LTouse one day some gentlemen were present from 
the West, excited and troubled about the commissions or omissions 
of the Administration. The President heard them patiently, and then 
replied : — " Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were worth was 
in gold, and you had put it in the hands of Blondin to carry across 
the Niagara River on a rope, would you shake the cable, or keep shout- 
ing out to him — 'Blondin, stand up a little straighter — Blondin, stoop 
a little more — go a little faster — lean a little more to the north — lean 
a little more to the south ?' No, you would hold your breath as well 
as your tongue, and keep your hands off until he was safe over. The 
Government are carrying an immense weight. Untold treasures arc 
in their hands. They are doing the very best they can. Don't badger 
them. Keep silence, and we'll get you safe across." 

Being asked at another time by an " anxious" visitor as to what he 
would do in certain contingencies — provided the rebellion was not 
subdued after three or four years of effort on the part of the Govern 
rnent — "Oh," said the President, "there is no alternative but to keep 
' pegging' away!'''' 

After the issue of the Emancipation Proclamation, Governor 
Morgan, of New York, was at the White House one day, when the 
President said :— " I do not agree with those who say that slavery is 
dead. We are like whalers who have been long on a chase — we have 
at last go}; the harpoon into the monster, but we must now look how 
we steer, or, with one 'flop' of his tail, he will yet send us all into 
eternity !" 

During a public "reception," a farmer, from one of the border 
counties of Virginia, told the President that the Union soldiers, in 
passing his farm, had helped themselves not only to hay, but ln3 
horse, and he hoped the President would, urge the proper officer to 
consider his claim immediately. 

Mr. Lincoln said that this reminded him of an old acquaintance of 
his, " Jack Chase," who used to be a lumberman on the Illinois, a steady, 
sober man, and the best raftsman on the river. It was quite a trick, 
twenty-five years ago, to take the logs over the rapids ; but he waa 
skilful with a raft, and always 'kept her straight in the channel. 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 753 

Finally a steamer was put on, and Jack was made captain of her. 
lie always used to take the wheel, going through the rapids. One 
day when the boat was plunging and wallowing along the boiling cur- 
rent, and Jack's utmost vigilance was being exercised to keep her in 
the narrow channel, a boy pulled his coat-tail, and hailed him with — 
"Say, Mister Captain! I wish you would just stop your boat a min- 
ute — I've lost my apple overboard 1" 

The President was once speaking about an attack made on him by 
the Committee on the Conduct of the War for a certain alleged blun- 
der, or something worse, in the Southwest — the matter involved being 
one which had fallen directly under the observation of the officer to 
whom he was talking - , who possessed official evidence completely up- 
setting all the conclusions of the Committee. 

"Might it not be well for me," queried the officer, "to set thia 
matter rigid in a letter to some paper, stating the facts as they actually 
transpired ?" 

" Oh, no," replied the President, " at least, not now. If I were to 
try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop 
might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I 
know how — the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so untu 
the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me 
won't amount to any thing. If the end brings me out wrong, ten 
angels swearing I was right would make no difference." 

A gentleman was relating to the President how a friend of his had 
been driven away from Xew Orleans as a Unionist, and how, on his 
expulsion, when he asked to see the writ by which he was expelled, 
the deputation which called on him told him that the Government had 
made up their minds to do nothing illegal, and so they had issued no 
illegal writs, and simply meant to make him go of his own free will. 
"Well," said Mr. Lincoln, "that reminds me of a hotel-keeper down 
at St. Louis, who boasted that he never had a death in his hotel, for 
whenever a guest was dying in his house he carried him out to die in 
the gutter." 

One evening the President brought a couple of friends into the 
"State dining-room" to see my picture. Something was said, in the 
conversation that ensued, that " reminded" him of the following circum- 
stance : "Judge ," said he, "held the strongest ideas of rigid 

government and close construction that I ever met. It was said of 
him, on one occasion, that he would hang a man for blowing his nose 
48 



754. The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

in the street, but lie would qnasli the indictment if it failed to specify 
which hand he blew it with !" 

On one occasion, in the Executive chamber, there were present a 
number of gentlemen, among them Mr. Seward. 

A point in the conversation suggesting the thought, Mr. Lincoln 
said : " Seward, you never heard, did you, how I earned my first dol- 
lar?" "No," said Mr. Seward. " Well," replied he, " I was about 
eighteen years of age. I belonged, you know, to what they call 
down South, the 'scrubs;' people who do not own slaves are nobody 
there. But we had succeeded in raising, chiefly by my labor, suffi- 
cient produce, as I thought, to justify me in taking it down the river 
to sell. 

" After much persuasion, I got the consent of mother to go, and 
constructed a little flatboat, large enough to take a barrel or two of 
things, that we had gathered, with myself and little bundle, down to 
New Orleans. A steamer was coming down the river. We have, you 
know, no wharves on the Western streams; and the custom was, if pas- 
sengers were at any of the landings, for them to go out in a boat, the 
Bteamer stopping and taking them on board. 

"I was contemplating my new flatboat, and wondering whether I 
could make it stronger or improve it ill any particular, when two men 
came down to the shore in carriages with trunks, and looking at the 
different boats singled out mine, and asked, 'Who owns this?' T 
answered, somewhat modestly, 'I do.' 'Will you,' said one of them, 
'take us and our trunks out to the steamer?' 'Certainly,' said I. I 
was very glad to have the chance of earning something. I supposed 
that each of them would give me two or three bits. The trunks were 
put on my flatboat, the passengers seated themselves on the trunks, 
and I scuUed them out to the steamboat. 

"They got on board, and I lifted up their heavy trunks, and put 
them on deck. The steamer was about to put on steam again, when I 
called out that they had forgotten to pay me. Each of them took 
from his pocket a silver half-dollar, and threw it on the floor of my 
boat. I could scarcely believe my eyes as I picked up the money. 
Gentlemen, you may think it was a very little thing, and in these daya 
it seems to me a trifle ; but it was a most important incident in my 
life. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dodar in 
less than a day — that by honest work I had earned a dollar. The 
world seemed wider and fairer before me. I was a more hopeful and 
confident being from that time." 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 755 

In August, 1864, the President called for five hundred thousand 
more men. The country was much depressed. The rebels had, iu 
comparatively small force, only a short time before, been to the very 
gates of Washington, and returned almost unharmed. 

The Presidential election was impending. Many thought another 
call for men at such a time would injure, if not destroy, Mr. Lincoln's 
chances for re-election. A friend said as much to him one day, after 
the President had told him of his purpose to make such a call. " As to 
my re-election," replied Mr. Lincoln, "it matters not. We must have 
the men. If I go down, I intend to go, like the Cumberland, with my 
colors flying !" 

A gentleman was one day finding fault with the constant agitation 
in Congress of the slavery question. lie remarked that, after the adop- 
tion of the Emancipation policy, he had hoped for something new. 

" There was a man down in Maine," said the President, in reply, 
" who kept a grocery-store, and a lot of fellows used to loaf around 
that for their toddy. He only gave 'em New England rum, and they 
drank pretty considerable of it. But after a while they began to get 
tired of that, and kept asking for something new — something new — all 
the time. Well, one night, when the whole crowd were around, the 
grocer brought out his glasses, and says he, 'I've got something New 
for you to drink, boys, now.' ' Ilonor bright ?' said they. ' Uonor 
bright,' says he, and with that he sets out a jug. 'Thar,' says he, 
'that's something new; it's New England rum!' says he. Now," re- 
marked Mr. Lincoln, " I guess we're a good deal like that crowd, and 
Congress is a good deal like that store-keeper!" 

About a week after the Chicago Convention, a gentleman from 
New York called upon the President, in company with the Assistant 
Secretary of War, Mr. Dana. In the course of conversation, the gentle- 
man said: "What do you think, Mr. President, is the reason General 
McClellan does not reply to the letter from the Chicago Convention ?" 

"Oh!" replied Mr. Lincoln, with a characteristic twinkle of the eye, 
"Ae is intrenching /" 

On the occasion when the telegram from Cumberland Gap readied 
Mr. Lincoln that " firing was heard in the direction of Knoxville," he 
remarked that he was " glad of it." Some person present, who had 
the perils of Burnside's position uppermost in his mind, could not see 
why Mr. Lincoln should be glad of it, and so expressed himself. 
"Why, you see," responded the President, "it reminds me of Mistress 



756 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Sallie Ward, a neighbor of mine, who had a very large family. Occa- 
sionally one of her numerous progeny would be heard crying in some 
out-of-the-way place, upon which Mrs. Ward would exclaim, ' There's 
one of my children that isn't dead yet !' " 

"On Mr. Lincoln's reception-day, after the nomination," wrote 
Theodore Tilton, in a letter to the Independent, "his face wore an 
expression of satisfaction rather than elation. His reception of Mr. 
Garrison was an equal honor to host and guest. In alluding to our 
failure to find the old jail, he said, 'Well, Mr. Garrison, when you first 
went to Baltimore, you couldn't get out; but the second time, you 
couldn't get in." 1 When one of us mentioned the great enthusiasm at 
the convention after Senator Morgan's proposition to amend the Con- 
stitution, abolishing slavery, Mr. Lincoln instantly said, ' It was I who> 
suggested to Mr. Morgan that he should put that idea into his opening 
speech.' This was the very best word he has said since the procla- 
mation of freedom." 

In the spring of 186*2, the President spent several days at Fortress 
Monroe, awaiting military operations upon the Peninsula. As a por- 
tion of the Cabinet were with him, that was temporarily the seat of 
government, and he bore with him constantly the burden of public 
affairs. His favorite diversion was reading Shakspeare, whom he 
rendered with fine discrimination of emphasis and feeling. One day 
(it chanced to be the day before the taking of Norfolk), as he sat read- 
ing alone, he called to his aide * in the adjoining room — "You have 
been writing long enough, Colonel, come in here ; I want to read you 
a passage in Hamlet." He read the discussion on ambition between 
Hamlet and his courtiers, and the soliloquy, in which conscience de- 
bates of a future state. This was followed by passages from Macbeth. 
Then opening to King John, he read from the third act the passage in 
which Constance bewails her imprisoned, lost boy. 

Then closing the book, and recalling the words — 

" And, father cardinal, I have heard you say 
That we shall see and know our friends in heaven : 
If that be true, I shall see my boy again " — 

Mr. Lincoln said : " Colonel, did you ever dream of a lost friend, and 
feel that you were holding sweet communion with that friend, and yet 
have a sad consciousness that it was not a reality ? — just so I dream of 
my bov Willie." Overcome with emotion, he dropped his head on 
the table, and sobbed aloud. 

* Colonel Le Grand B. Cannon, of General Wool's staff. 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 757 

A few days before the President's death, Secretary Stanton tendered 
his resignation of the War Department. He accompanied the act with 
a most heart-felt tribute to Mr. Lincoln's constant friendship and faith- 
ful devotion to the country, saying, also, that he, as Secretary, had 
accepted the position to hold it only until the war should end, and that 
now he felt his work was done, and his duty was to resio-n. 

Mr. Lincoln was greatly moved by the Secretary's words, and tear- 
ing in pieces the paper containing the resignation, and throwing his 
arms about the Secretary, he said: "Stanton, you have been a good 
friend and a faithful public servant, and it is not for you to say when 
you will no longer be needed here." Several friends of both parties 
were present on the occasion, and there was not a dry eye that wit- 
nessed the scene. 

One of the last, if not the very last story told by President Lin- 
coln, was to one of his Cabinet who came to see him, to ask if it would 
be proper to permit Jake Thompson to slip through Maine in disguiso 
and embark for Portland. The President, as usual, was disposed to 
be merciful, and to permit the arch-rebel to pass unmolested, but tho 
Secretary urged that he should be arrested as a traitor. "By permit- 
ting him to escape the penalties of treason," persistently remarked the 
Secretary, "you sanction it." "Well," replied Mr. Lincoln, " let me 
tell you a story. There was an Irish soldier here last summer, who 
wanted something to drink stronger than water, and stopped at a drug- 
shop, where lie espied a soda-fountain. ' Mr. Doctor,' said he, ' give 
me, plase, a glass of soda-wather, an' if yes can put in a few drops of 
whiskey unbeknown to any one, Pll be oblceged.' Now," continued 
Mr. Lincoln, "if Jake Thompson is permitted to go through Maino 
unbeknown to any one, what's the harm ? So don't have him arrested." 

It will be remembered that an extra session of Congress was called 
in July following Mr. Lincoln's inauguration. In the message then 
sent in, speaking of secession, and the measures taken by the South- 
ern leaders to bring it about, there occurs the following remark: — 
"With rebellion thus sugar-coated, they have been drugging the public 
mind of their section for more than thirty years, until at length they 
have brought many good men to a willingness to take up arms against 
the Government," etc. Mr. Defrees, the Government printer, told 
me that, when the message was being printed, he was a good deal 
disturbed by the use of the term "sugar-coated," and finally went to 
the President about it. Their relations to each other being of the 
most intimate character, he told Mr. Lincoln frankly, that he ought to 



758 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

remember that a message to Congress was a different affair from a 
speech at a mass-meeting in Illinois — that the messages became a part 
of history, and should be written accordingly. 

" What is the matter now ?" inquired the President. 

" Why," said Mr. Defrees, " you have used an undignified express 
sion in the message ;" and then, reading the paragraph aloud, he 
added, " I would alter the structure of that, if I were you." 

"Defrees," replied Mr. Lincoln, "that word expresses precisely my 
idea, and I am not going to change it. The time will never come in 
this country when the people won't know exactly what sugar-coated 
means !" 

On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Defrees told me, a certain sentence 
of another message was very awkwardly constructed. Calling the 
President's attention to it in the proof-copy, the latter acknowledged 
the force of the objection raised, and said, "Go home, Defrees. and 
sec if you can better it." The next day Mr. Defrees took in to him 
his amendment. Mr. Lincoln met him by saying: "Seward found the 
same fault that you did, and he has been rewriting the paragraph 
also." Then reading Mr. Defrees's version, he said : " I believe you 
have beat Seward; but, 'I jings'" (a common expression with him), 
" I think I can beat you both." Then taking up his pen, he wrote the 
sentence as it was finally printed. 

A Congressman elect, from New York State, was once pressing a 
matter of considerable importance upon Mr. Lincoln, urging his official 
action. "You must see Raymond about this," said the President (re- 
ferring to the editor of the New York Times); " he is my Lieutenant- 
General in politics. Whatever he says is right in the premises, shall 
be done." 

The evening before I left Washington, an incident occurred, illus- 
trating very perfectly the character of the man. For two days my 
large painting had been on exhibition, upon its completion, in the 
East Room, which had been thronged with visitors. Late in the after- 
noon of the second day, the " black-horse cavalry" escort drew up as 
usual in front of the portico, preparatory to the President's leaving for 
the "Soldiers' Home," where he spent the midsummer nights. While 
the carriage was waiting, I looked around for him, wishing to say a 
farewell word, knowing that I should have no other opportunity. 
Presently I saw him standing half-way between the portico and the 
gateway leading to the War Department, leaning against the iron 
fence — one arm thrown over the railing, and one foot on the stone 
coping which supports it, evidently having been intercepted, on his 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 759 

way in, from the War Department, by <a plain-looking man, who was 
giving him, very diffidently, an account of a difficulty which he had 
been unable to have rectified. While waiting, I walked out leisurely 
to the President's side. He said very little to the man, but was intently 
studying the expression of his face while he was narrating his trouble. 
When he had finished, Mr. Lincoln said to him, "Have you a blank 
card?" The man searched his pockets, but finding none, a gentleman 
standing near, who had overheard' the question, came forward, and 
said, " Here is one, Mr. President." Several persons had, in the mean 
time, gathered around. Taking the card and a pencil, Mr. Lincoln sat 
down upon the stone coping, which is not more than five or six inches 
above the pavement, presenting almost the appearance of sitting upon 
the pavement itself, and wrote an order upon the card to the proper 
official to " examine this man's case." While writing this, I observed 
several persons passing down the promenade, smiling at each other, at 
what I presume they thought the undignified appearance of the Head 
cf the Nation, who, however seemed utterly unconscious, cither of any 
impropriety in the action, or of attracting any attention. To me it 
was not only a touching picture of the native goodness of the man, 
but of innate nobility of character, exemplified not so much by a dis- 
regard of conventionalities, as in unconsciousness that there could be 
any breach of etiquette, or dignity, in the manner of an honest at- 
tempt to serve, or secure justice to a citizen of the Republic, however 
humble he may be. 

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 

On the afternoon of Friday, February 5, 1864, I rang the bell of 
Mr. Lovejoy's boarding-house, on Fifteenth street, Washington. He 
■was then very ill, though his friends did not apprehend that he was so 
near the close of his noble and faithful career. It is a sad satisfaction 
to me now to remember that one of the last acts of this good man's 
life was the writing, while sitting up in his bed, of the note introdu- 
cing me to Mr. Lincoln. My first interview with the President took 
place the next day, at the customary Saturday afternoon public recep- 
tion. Never shall I forget the thrill which went through my whole 
being as 1 first caught sight of that tall, gaunt form through a distant 
door, bowed down, it seemed to me, even then, with the weight of the 
nation he carried upon his heart, as a mother carries her suffering 
child, and thought of the place he held in the affections of the peo- 
ple, and the prayers ascending constantly, day after day, in his beha.f ! 
The crowd was passing through the rooms, and presently it wra my 



760 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

turn and name to be announced. Greeting me very pleasantly, ho 
soon afterward made an appointment to see me in his official cham- 
ber, directly after the close of the "reception." The hour named 
found me at the well-remembered door of the apartment — that door 
watched daily, with so many conflicting emotions of hope and fear, by 
the miscellaneous throng gathered there. The President was alone, 
and already deep in official business, which was always pressing. He 
received me with the frank kindness and simplicity so characteristic 
of his nature; and, after reading Mr. Lovejoy's note, said: "Well, 
Mr. Carpenter, we will turn you in loose here, and try to give you a 
good chance to work out your idea." Then giving me a place close 
beside his own arm-chair, he" entered upon the account which I shall 
now attempt to write out, as nearly as possible in his own words, of 
the circumstances attending the adoption of the Emancipation policy. 
First, however, let me glance very briefly at the condition of the coun- 
try at this juncture. 

The summer of 18G2 was the gloomiest period of the war. After 
the most stupendous preparations known in modern warfare, McClel- 
lan, with an army of one hundred and sixty thousand men, had re- 
treated from the Peninsula, after the " seven days'" severe fighting 
before Richmond, and great depression followed the disappointment 
of the brilliant hopes of the beginning of the campaign. The "On 
to Richmond" had been succeeded by "Back to "Washington;" and 
the Rebellion, flushed with success, was more defiant than ever! 

Thus far, the war had been prosecuted by the Administration with- 
out touching slavery in any manner. The reasons for this are admi- 
rably set forth in Mr. Lincoln's letter to Colonel Hodges. 

Going over substantially the same ground on an occasion I well 
remember, Mr. Lincoln said : — " The paramount idea of the Consti- 
tution is the preservation of the Union. It may not be specified in 
60 many words, but of this there can be no question ; for without the 
Union the Constitution would be worthless. The Union made the 
Constitution, not the Constitution the Union ! It seems clear that, 
if the emergency should arise that slavery, or any other institution, 
stood in the way of the maintenance of the Union, and the alterna- 
tive was presented to the Executive, of the destruction of one or the 
other, he could not hesitate between the two. I can now," he 
continu3d, "most solemnly assert that I did all in my judgment that 
eould be done to restore the Union without interfering with the insti- 
tution of slavery. "We failed, and the blow at slavery was struck !" 

I now take up the history of the Proclamation itself, as Mr. Lin- 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 761 

coin gave it to mo, on tlie occasion of our first interview, and written 
down by myself soon afterward: — 

"It had got to be," said he, "midsummer, 1SG2. Things had 
gone on from bad to worse, until I felt that we had reached t lie end 
of our rope on the plan of operations we had been pursuing ; that we 
had about played our last card, and must change our tactics or lose 
the game! I now determined upon the adoption of the Emancipation 
policy ; and, without consultation with, or the knowledge of the 
Cabinet, T prepared the original draft of the Proclamation ; and, after 
much anxious thonght, called a Cabinet meeting upon the. subject. 
This was the last of July, or the first part of the month of August, 
1862." (The exact date he did not remember.) "This Cabinet meet- 
ing took place, T think, upon a Saturday. All were present, except- 
ing Mr, Blair, the Postmaster-General, who was absent at the open- 
ing of the discussion, but came in subsequently. I said to the Cabinet 
that I had resolved upon this step, and had not called them together 
to ask their advice, but to lay the subject-matter of a proclamation 
before them ; suggestions as to which would be in order, after they 
had heard it read. Mr. Lovejoy," said he, " was in error when he 
informed you that it excited ao comment, excepting on the part of 
Secretary Seward. Various suggestions were offered. Secretary 
Chase wished the language stronger in reference to the arming of the 
blacks. Mr. Blair, after he came in, deprecated the policy, on the 
ground that it would cost the Administration the fall elections. 
Nothing, however, was offered that I had not already fully anticipated 
and settled in my own mind, until Secretary Seward spoke. Said he : — ■ 
1 Mr. President, I approve of the Proclamation, but I question the expedi- 
ency of its issue at this juncture. The depression of the public mind, 
consequent upon our repeated reverses, is so great, that 1 fear the 
effect of so important a step, It may be viewed as the last measure 
of an exhausted Government — a cry for help; the Government 
stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretching 
forth her hands to the Government.' Ilis idea," said the President, 
" was, that it would be considered our last shriek on the retreat." 
(This was his precise expression.) "'Now,' continued Mr. Seward, 
'while I approve the measure, I suggest, sir, that you postpone its 
issue until you can give it to the country supported by military suc- 
cess, instead of issuing it, as would be the case now, upon the greatest 
disasters of the war !' " Said Mr. Lincoln : — " The wisdom of the view 
of the Secretary of State struck me with very great force. It was an 
aspect of the case that, in all my thought upon the subject, I had 



762 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

entirely overlooked. The result was, that T put the draft of the Proc- 
lamation aside, as you do your sketch for a picture, waiting for a vic- 
tory. From time to time I added or changed a line, touching it up 
here and there, waiting the progress of events. Well, the next news 
we had was of Pope's disaster, at Bull Run. Things looked darker 
than ever. Finally, came the week of the battle of Antietam. I de- 
termined to wait no longer. The news came, I think, on Wednesday, 
that the advantage was on our side. I was then staving at the 'Sol- 
diers' Home'" (three miles out of Washington). "Here I finished 
writing the second draft of the preliminary Proclamation ; came up on 
Saturday, called the Cabinet together to hear it, and it was published 
the following Monday. 

" It was a somewhat remarkable fact," he continued, " that there 
were just one hundred days between the dates of the two proclama- 
tions, issued upon the 22d of September and the 1st of January. I 
had not made the calculation at the time." 

At the final meeting on Saturday, another interesting incident oc- 
curred in connection with Secretary Seward. The President had writ- 
ten the important part of the Proclamation in these words : — ■ 

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves 
within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof 
shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, 
thenceforward, and forever, free ; and the Executive Government of 
the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, 
will recognize the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts 
to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make 
for their actual freedom." — " When I finished reading this paragraph," 
resumed Mr. Lincoln, "Mr. Seward stopped me, and said : 'I think, 
Mr. President, that you should insert after the word " recognize" in 
that sentence, the words ^ and maintain." ' I replied that I had already 
fully considered the import of that expression in this connection, but 
I had not introduced it, because it was not my way to promise what 
I was not entirely sure that I could perform, and I was not prepared 
to say that I thought we were exactly able to ' maintain' this." 

"But," said he, " Mr. Seward insisted that we ought to take this 
ground ; and the words finally went in." 

Mr. Lincoln then proceeded to show me the various positions oc- 
cupied by himself and the different members of the cabinet on the 
occasion of the first meeting. "As nearly as I remember," said he, 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 763 

*■ 

" the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War were here, 
at my right hand — the others were grouped at the left." 

From the first, the President seemed much interested in my work; 
but as it progressed, Ids interest increased. lie was in the habit of 
bringing many friends in to see what advance I was making from day 
to day, and I have known him to come by himself as many as three or 
four times in a single day. It seemed a pleasant diversion to him 
to watch the gradual progress of the work, and his suggestions, though 
sometimes quaint and homely, were almost invariably excellent. Sel- 
dom was he heard to allude to any thing that might be construed into 
a personality in connection with any member of his Cabinet. On 
one occasion, however, I remember, with a sly twinkle of the eye, he 
turned to a senatorial friend whom he had brought in to see the pic- 
ture, and said : " Mrs. Lincoln calls Mr. Carpenter's group " The 
Hapjnj Family." 

At the end of about six months' incessant labor, the picture drew 
near completion. The curiosity of the public to see it was so great 
that, by special permission of Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, it was placed in 
the "East Room," and, for two days, thrown open for free exhibition. 
At the close of the second day, just previous to the canvas being taken 
down ami rolled up, the President came in to take, as he said, a "fare- 
well look at the picture." lie sat in front of it for some time, and I 
asked him if he had aught of criticism to make. He said he could 
suggest nothing whatever as to the portraiture — " the likenesses seemed 
to him absolutely perfect." I then called his attention to the accesso- 
ries of the picture, stating that these had been selected from the ob- 
jects in the Cabinet chamber v\l\\ reference solely to their bearing upon 
the subject. "Yes," said he, "I see the war-maps, the portfolios, the 
slave-m-A]), and all ; but the book in the corner, leaning against the 
chair-leg, you have changed the title of that, I see." " Yes," I replied, 
"at the last moment I learned that you frequently consulted, during 
the period you were preparing the Proclamation, Solicitor Whiting's 
work on the ' War Powers of the President,' so I simply changed the 
title of the book, leaving the old sheepskin binding as it was." 
"Now," said he, " Whiting's book is not a regular law-book. It is all 
very well that it should be there; but I would suggest that you change 
the character of the binding. It now looks like an old volume of 
United States Statutes." I thanked him for this criticism, and then 
said, "Is there any thing else that you would like changed ?" "I see 
nothing," said he; "all else is perfectly satisfactory to me. In my 
judgment, it is as good a piece of work as the subject will admit of." 



764 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

And then, in las simple-hearted, earnest way, he said to rae, " And I 
am righfglad you have done it!" 

In February last, a few days after the passage of the "Constitutional 
Amendment," I was in Washington, and was received by Mr. Lincoln 
with the kindness and familiarity winch had characterized our previ- 
ous intercourse. I said to him one day that I was very proud to have 
been the artist to have first conceived of the design of painting a pic- 
. turc commemorative of the Act of Emancipation; that subsequent 
occurrences had only confirmed my own first judgment of that act as 
the most sublime moral -event in our history. " Yes," said — he and 
never do I remember to have noticed in him more earnestness of ex- 
pression or manner — "as affairs have turned, it is the central act of my 
Administration, and the great event of the nineteenth century." 

I remember to have ashed him, on one occasion, if there was not 
some opposition manifested on the part of several members of the 
Cabinet to the Emancipation policy. He said, in reply : "Nothing 
more than I have stated to you. Mr. Blair thought we should lose the 
fall elections, and opposed it on that ground only." Said I, " I have 
understood that Secretary Smith was not in favor of your action. Mr. 
Blair told me that, when the meeting closed, he and the Secretary of 
the Interior went away together, and that the latter t ..d him, if the 
President carried out that policy, he might count on losing Indiana, 
sure!" "lie never said any thing of the hind to me," returned the 
President. "And how," said I, "does Mr. Blair feel about it now?" 
"Oh," -was the prompt reply, "he proved right in regard to the fall 
elections, but he is satisfied that we have since gained more than we 
lost." "I have been told," said I, " that Judge Bates doubted the 
constitutionality of the Proclamation. ""He never expressed such an 
opinion in my hearing," replied Mr. Lincoln. "No member of the 
Cabinet ever dissented from the policy, in any conversation with me." 

There was one marked element of Mr. Lincoln's character admirably 
expressed by the Hon. Schuyler Colfax, in his oration at Chicago upon 
his death: "When his judgment, which acted slowly, but which was 
almost as immovable as the eternal hills when settled., was grasping 
some subject of importance, the arguments against his own desires 
seemed uppermost in his mind, and, in conversing upon it, he would 
present those arguments, to sec if they could be rebutted." 

In illustration of this, I need only here recaii the fact that the in- 
terview between himself and the Chicago delegation of clergymen, 
appointed to urge upon him the issue of a Proclamation of Emanci 
pation, took place September 13, 1SC2, just about a month after the 



Anecdotes and Reminiscences. 7G5 

President had declared his established purpose to take this step at the 
Cabinet meeting which I have described, lie said to this commit- 
tee : "I do not want to issue a document that the whole world will 
see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's bull against the 
comet !"' After drawing- out their views upon the subject, he con- 
cluded the interview with these memorable words : — 

"Do not misunderstand me, because I have mentioned these objeC' 
tions. They indicate the difficulties which have thus far prevented 
my action in some such way as you desire. I have not decided against 
a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but hold the matter under ad- 
visement. And I can assure you that the subject is on my mind, by 
day and night, more than any other. Whatever shall appear to be 
God's will, 1 will do ! I trust that, in the freedom with which I have 
canvassed your views, I have not in any respect injured your feelings." 

In further illustration of this peculiarity of his mind, I will say 
here, to silence forever the cavils of those who have asserted that he 
was forced by the pressure of public opinion to nominate Mr. Chase 
as Judge Taney's successor, that, notwithstanding his apparent hesita- 
tion upon this subject, and all that was reported at the time in the 
newspapers as to the chances of the various candidates, it is a fact well 
known to several of his most intimate friends that " there had never 
been a time during his Presidency, that, in the event of the death of 
Judge Taney, he had not fully intended and expected to nominate 
Salmon P. Chase for Chief Justice." These were his very words, ut- 
tered in this connection. ^ 

Mr. Chase told me that at the Cabinet meeting, immediately after 
the battle of Antietam, and just prior to the issue of the September 
Proclamation, the President entered upon the business before them, by 
eaying that " the time for the annunciation of the Emancipation policy 
could no longer be delayed. Public sentiment," he thought, " would 
sustain it, many of his warmest friends and supporters demanded it — 
and he had promised his God that he would do it!" The last part of 
this was uttered in a low tone, and appeared to be heard by no one 
but Secretary Chase, who was sitting near him. He asked the Presi- 
dent if he correctly understood him. Mr. Lincoln replied : " I made 
a solemn vow before God that, if General Lee were driven bark from 
Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom 
to the slaves !" 

In concluding this article, it will perhaps be expected that I should 
take some notice of an assertion, made originally in an editorial article 
in The Independent, upon the withdrawal of Mr. Chase from the polit- 



766 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

ical canvass of 1864, and widely copied, in which it was stated that 
the concluding paragraph of the Proclamation was from the pen of 
Secretary Chase. One of Mr. Lincoln's intimate friends (this incident 
was related to me by the gentleman himself), who felt that there was 
an impropriety in this publication, at that time, for which Mr. Chase 
Mas in some degree responsible, went to see the President about it. 
" Oh," said Mr. Lincoln, with his characteristic simplicity and freedom 
from all suspicion, " Mr. Chase had nothing to do with it ; I think / 
mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Tilton myself." 

The facts in the case are these : while the measure was pending. 
Mr. Chase submitted to the President a draft of a proclamation, em- 
bodying his views upon the subject, which closed with the appropriate 
and solemn words referred to : " And upon this act, sincerely believed 
to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution, I invoke the 
considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty 
God !" 

Mr. Lincoln adopted this sentence intact, excepting that he inserted 
after the word "Constitution" the words "upon military necessity." 

Thus is ended what I have long felt to be a duty I owed to the 
world — the record of circumstances attending the preparation and 
issue of the third great state paper which has marked the progress of 
our Anglo-Saxon civilization. 

First, is the "Magna Ciiahta," wrested by the barons of England 
from King John ; second, the " Declaration of Independence ;" and 
third, worthy to be plaeeoT'upon the tablets of history, side by side 
with the two first, is "Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation of Eman- 
cipation." 



President Lincoln's Letters. 7G7 



APPENDIX. 



A. 
LETTERS ON SUNDRY OCCASIONS. 



TO MR. HODGES, OF KENTUCKY. 

Executive Mansion, Washington, Apriti, 1S64. 
A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Kentucky: 

My Dear Sir: — You ask me to put in writing the substance of what I 
verbally said the other day, in your presence, to Governor Bramletto and 
Senator Dixon. It was about as follows: — 

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is 
wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so think and feel, and yet 
I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an un- 
restricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. It was 
In the oath 1 took that I would to the best of my ability preserve, pro- 
tect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, i could not take 
the office without taking the oath. Nor was it my view that I might 
take an oath to get power, and break the oath in using the power. I 
understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even for- 
bade me to practically indulge my primary .abstract judgment on the 
moral question of slavery. I had publicly declared this many times, and 
in many ways. And I aver that, to this day, I have done no official act 
in mere deference to my abstract judgment and feeling on slavery. I 
did understand, however, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to 
the best of my ability, imposed upon me the duty of preserving, by every 
indispensable means, that government, that nation, of which that Con- 
stitution was the organic law. Was it possible to lose the nation and 
yet preserve the Constitution? By general law, life and limb must bo 
protected; yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life 
is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise 
unconstitutional, might become lawful, by becoming indispensable to the 
preservation of the Constitution, through the preservation of the nation. 
Right or wrong, I assumed this ground, and now avow it. 1 could not 
feel that to the best of my ability I had even tried to preserve the Con- 
stitution, if, to save slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the 
wreck of government, country, and Constitution, altogether. When, 
early in the war, General Fremont attempted military emancipation, I 
forbade it, because I did not then think it an indispensable necessity. 
When, a little later, General Cameron, then Secretary of War. suggested 
the arming of the blacks, 1 objected, because I did not yet. think it an 
indispensable necessity. 'When, still later, General Hunter attempted 
military emancipation, I again forbade it, because 1 did not yet think the 



76 S The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

indispensable necessity had come. "When, in March, and May, and July, 
]862, 1 made earnest and successive appeals to the Border States to 
favor compensated emancipation, I believed the indispensable neces- 
sity for military emancipation and arming the blacks would come, unless 
averted by that measure. They declined the proposition, and I was, in 
my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either surrendering the 
Union, and with it the Constitution, or of laying strong hand upon the 
colored element: I chose the latter. In choosing it, I hoped for greater 
gain than hiss, hut of this I was not entirely confident. More than a 
year of trial now shows no loss by it in our foreign relations, none in 
our home popular sentiment, none in our white military force, no loss 
by it any how, or anywhere. On the contrary, it shows a gain of 
quite one hundred and thirty thousand soldiers, seamen, and laborers. 
These are palpable facts, about which, as facts, there can be no cavil 
ling. We have the men; and we could not have had them without the 
measure. 

And now let any Union man who complains of the measure, test him- 
self by writing down in one line, that he is for subduing the rebellion 
by force of arms; and in the next, that lie is for taking one hundred 
and thirty thousand men from the Union side, and placing them where 
they would be hut for the measure he condemns. If he cannot face his 
case so stated, it is only because he cannot face the truth. 

I add a word which was not in the verbal conversation. In telling 
this tale, I attempt no compliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to 
have controlled events, hut confess plainly that events have controlled 
me. Now, at the end of three years 1 struggle, the nation's condition is 
not what either party, or any man, devised or expected. God alone can 
claim it. "Whither it is tending, seems plain. If God now wills the re- 
moval of a great wrong, and wills also that we of the North, as well as 
you of the South, shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, im- 
partial history will find therein new causes to attest and revere the jus- 
tice and goodness of God. Yours truly, 

(Signed) A. Lincoln. 

to" general hooker. 

The following letters were written by the President to General Hooker 
soon after the latter had succeeded General Bnrnside iu command of the 
Army of the Potomac. The first was written just after the battle of 
Chancellorsville, as follows : — 

"Washington, 2 r. m.— May 8, 1SG3. 

General Hooker: — The news is here of the capture by our forces of 
Grand Gulf, a large and very important thing. General Willich, an 
exchanged prisoner just from Richmond, has talked with me this morn- 
ing. He was there when our cavalry cut the roads in that vicinity. lie 
says there was not a sound pair of legs in Richmond, and that our men, 
had they known it, could have safely gone in and burnt every thing and 
brought deft'. Davis, captured and paroled three or four hundred men. 
lie says as he came to City Point there was an army three miles long — 
Longstreet, he thought, moving towards Richmond. Milroy lias captured 
a dispatch of General Lee, in whicli he says his loss was fearful in his 
late battle with you. A. Lincoln. 

After the battle of Chancellorsville General Hooker withdrew his 
forces to the north side of the Rappahannock, and received the following 
from the President : — 



Letters to General Hooker. 769 

Executive Mansion, Washington, May 14. 1SG3. 

My Dear Sir: — "When I wrote on the 7th I had an impression that 

possibly, by an early movement, you could get some advantage, from the 
supposed facts that the enemy's communications were disturbed, and that 
he was somewhat deranged in position. That idea has now passed away, 
the enemy having re-established his communications, regained his posi- 
tions, and actually received re-enforcements. It does not now appear to 
me probable that you can gain any thing by an early renewal of the at- 
tempt to cross the Rappahannock. I therefore shall not complain if you 
do no more for a time than to keep the enemy at bay, and out of other 
mischief, by menaces and occasional cavalry raids, if practicable, and to 
put your own army in good condition again. Still, if, in your own clear 
judgment, you can renew the attack successfully, I do not mean to re- 
strain you. Bearing upon this last point I must tell you I have some pain- 
ful intimations that some of your corps and division commanders are not 
giving you their entire confidence. This would be ruinous if true, and 
you should, therefore, first of all, ascertain the real facts beyond all possi- 
bility of doubt. Yours truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

Both armies remained inactive till the 5tu Nf June, when General 
Hooker wrote to the President that appearances indicated an advance by 
General Lee. The President answered him as follows :• — 

June 5, 1SC3. 

Major-General Hooker: — Yours of to-day was received an hour 
ago. So much of professional military skill is requisite to answer it, that 
I have turned the task over to General Halleck. He promises to perform 
it with his utmost care. I have but one idea which I think worth sug- 
gesting to you, and that is, in case you find Lee coming to the north of 
the Rappahannock, I would by no means cross to the south of it. If he 
should leave a rear force at Fredericksburg, tempting you to fall upon it, it 
would fight in intrenchments and have you at advantage, and so, man for 
man, worst you at that point, while his main force would in some way 
be getting an advantage of you northward. In one word, I would not 
take any risk of being entangled up on the river like an ox jumped half 
ov/sr a fence and liable to be torn by dogs front and rear without a fair 
chance to gore one way or to kick the other. 

If Lee would come to my side of the river I would keep on the same 
side and fight him, or act on the defensive, according as might be my es- 
timate of his strength relatively to my own. But these are mere sugges- 
tions, which I desire to be controlled by the judgment of yourself and 
General Halleck. A. Lincoln. 

By the 10th of June Lee's forward movement was well developed. 
The President's views as to the proper course to be pursued by our army 
remained as before, and he sent the following letter expressing them : — 

Washington, D. C, June 10, 1SGS. 
Major-General Hooker: — Your long dispatch of to-day is just re- 
ceived. If left to me, I would not go south of the Rappahannock upon 
Lee's moving north of it. If you had Richmond invested to-day you 
would not be able to take it in twenty days; meanwhile your communi- 
cations, and with them your army, would be ruined. I think Lee's army, 
and not Richmond, is your true objective point. If he comes towards the 
Upper Potomac, follow on his flank, and on the inside track, shortening 
49 



770 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

your lines while he lengthens his. Fight him, too, when opportunity 
offers. If he stay where he is, fret him and fret him. 

A. Lincoln. 

Lee's advance was to the northwest, through the Valley of the Shenan- 
doah. His advance was heard of far down that valley while yet hia 
rear was near Fredericksburg, and on the 14th the President wrote to 
Geueral Hooker as follows : — 

Washington, D. C, June 14, 1803. 

Major-General Hooker: — So for as we can make out here, the 
enemy have Milroy surrounded at Winchester, and Tyler at Martins- 
burg. If they could hold out a few days, could you help them? If the 
head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg and the tail of it on the plank- 
road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must oe 
very slim somewhere ; could you not break him? 

A. Lincoln. 

HON. JOHN MINOR BOTTS. 

The following brief letter, written during the first Presidential canvass, 
shows what were Mr. Lincoln's views in regard to the action of the South- 
ern States in the event of his election : — 

Springfield, III., August 15, 1?G0. 

My Dear Sir : — Yours of the 9th, enclosing the letter of Hon. John 
Minor Botts, was duly received. The latter is herewith returned according 
to your request. It contains one of the many assurances I receive from the 
South, that in no probable event will there be any very formidable effort 
to break up the Union. The people of the South have too much of good 
gense and good temper to attempt the ruin of the Government rather than 
see it administered as it was administered by the men who made it. At 
least, so I hope and believe. 

1 thank you both for your own letter and a sight of that of Mr. Botts. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

John B. Fry, Esq. 

TO GOVERNOR MAGOFFIN. 

In August, 18G1, Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, urged the removal by 
the President of the Union troops which had been raised and were en- 
camped within that State. 

To this request he received the following reply : — 

Washington, D. C, August 24, 1S61. 
To His Excellency B. Magoffin, Governor of the State of Kentucky 

Sir: — Your letter of the 19th instant, in which you "urge the removal 
from the limits of Kentucky of the military force now organized and in 
camp within that State, is received. 

] may not possess full and precisely accurate knowledge upon this sub- 
ject, but I believe it is true that there is a military force in camp within 
Kentucky, acting by authority of the United States, which force is not 
very large, and is not now being augmented. 

I also believe that some amis have been furnished to this force by the 
United States. 



Letter to Count Gasparin. 771 

I also believe that tins force consists exclusively of Kentuckians, having 
their camp in the immediate vicinity of their own homes, and not assail- 
ing or menacing any of the good pe#ple of Kentucky. 

In all I have done in the premises, I have acted upon the urgent solici- 
tation of many Kentuckians, and in accordance with what I believed, an£ 
still believe, to be the wish of a majority of all the Union-loving people 
of Kentucky. 

"While I have conversed on the subject with many eminent men o\ 
Kentucky, including a large majority of her members of Congress, I da 
not remember that any one of them, or any other person, except your 
Excellency and the bearers of your Excellency's letter, has urged me to 
remove the military force from Kentucky or to disband it. One other 
very worthy citizen of Kentucky did solicit me to have the augmenting 
of the force suspended for a time. 

Taking all the means within my reach to form a judgment, I do not 
believe it is the popular wish of Kentucky that the force shall be re- 
moved beyond her limits, and, with this impression, I must respectfully 
decline to remove it. 

I most cordially sympathize with your Excellency in the wish to pre- 
serve the peace of my own native State, Kentucky, but it is with regret 
I search for, and cannot find, in your not very short letter, any declara- 
tion or intimation that you entertain any desire for the preservation of 
the Federal Union. Abraham Lincoln. 

TO COUNT GASPARIN. 

The following letter addressed by President Lincoln to the Count de 
Gasparin, one of the warmest friends of the United States in Europe, 
who had written to the President concerning the state of the country, 
will be read with interest : — 

. Executive Mansion, Washington, August 4, 1SG2. 

To Count A. de Gasparin: 

Dear Sir : — Your very acceptable letter dated Orbe, Canton de Vaud, 
Switzerland, 18th of July, 18G2, is received. The moral effect was the 
worst of the affair before Richmond, and that has run its course down- 
ward. "We are now at a stand, and shall soon be rising again, as we 
hope. I believe it is true that, in men and material, the enemy suffered 
more than we in that series of conflicts, while it is certain he is less able 
to bear it. 

With us every soldier is a man of character, and must be treated with 
more consideration than is customary in Europe. Hence our great 
army, for slighter causes than could have prevailed there, has dwindled 
rapidly, bringing the necessity for a new call earlier than was antici- 
pated. We shall easily obtain the new levy, however. Be not alarmed 
if you shall learn that we shall have resorted to a draft for part ot this. 
It seems strange even to me, but it is true, that the Government is now 
pressed to this course by a popular demand. Thousands who wish 
not to personally enter the service, are nevertheless anxious to pay and 
send substitutes, provided they can have assurance that unwilling per- 
sons, similarly situated, will be compelled to do likewise. Besides this, 
volunteers mostly choose to enter newly forming regiments, while 
drafted men can be sent to fill up the old ones, wherein man for man 
they are quite doubly as valuable. 

You ask, " why is it that the North with her great armies so often is 
found with inferiority of numbers face to face with the armies of the 



772 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

South? 1 ' "While I painfully know the fact, a military man, which I am 
not, would better answer the question. The fact I know has not been 
overlooked, and I suppose the cause 9f its continuance lies mainly in the 
other fact that the enemy holds the interior and we the exterior lines; 
and that we operate where the people convey information to the enemy, 
while lie operates where they convey none to us. 

I have received the volume and letter which you did me the honor of 
addressing to me, and for which please accept my sincere thanks. You 
are much admired in America for the ability of your writings, and much 
loved for your generosity to us and your devotion to liberal principles 
generally. 

You are quite right as to the importance to us for its bearing upon 
Europe, that we should achieve military successes, and the same is true for 
us at home as well as abroad. Yet it seems unreasonable that a series 
of successes, extending through hall a year, and clearing more than a 
hundred thousand square miles of country, should help us so little, 
while a single half defeat should hurt us so much. But let us be patient. 

I am very happy to know that my course has not conflicted with your 
judgment of propriety and policy. I can only say that I have acted upon 
my best convictions, without selfishness or malice, and that by the help 
of God I shall continue to do so. 

Please be assured of my highest respect and esteem. 

A. Lincoln. 



B. 

THE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL McCLELLAN. 

The transfer of General McClellan's army from the Potomac, where it 
lay in front of the rebels at Manassas, was a movement of so much im- 
portance, and has given rise to so much controversy, that we append, for 
its further elucidation, a memorandum made by Major-General McDowell 
of the private discussions which preceded it. 

A copy of this memorandum was given by General McDowell, in the 
spring of 1SG4, to Mr. Eaymond, and by him, some months afterwards, 
submitted to the President. The manuscript was returned by the latter, 
with the following indorsement: — 

I well remember the meetings herein narrated. See nothing for me to 
object to in the narrative as being made by General McDowell, except 
the phrase attributed to me "»/ the Jacobinism of Congress" which 
phrase I do not remember using literally or in substance, and which I 
wish not to be published in any event. 

A. Lincoln. 

October T, 1864. 
The following is the 

MEMORANDUM OF GENERAL McDOWELL. 

January 10, 1862. — At dinner at Arlington, Virginia. Received a note 
from the Assistant Secretary of War, saying the President wished to see 
me that evening at eight o'clock, if I could safely leave my. post. Soon 
after, I received a note from Quartermaster-General Meigs, marked "Pri- 



The President and General McClellan. 773 

vate and confidential," saying the President wished to see me. Note 
herewith. 

Repaired to the President's house at eight o'clock p. m. Found the 
President alone. Was taken into the small room in the northeast corner. 
Soon after, we were joined by Brigadier-General Franklin, the Secretary 
of State, Governor Seward, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the As- 
sistant Secretary of War. The President was greatly disturbed at the 
state of affairs. Spoke of the exhausted condition of the Treasury ; of the 
loss of public credit; of the Jacobinism in Congress; of the delicate con- 
dition of our foreign relations; of the bad news he had received from the 
West, particularly as contained in a letter from General Ilalleck'on the 
state of affairs in Missouri; of the want of co-operation between General 
Plalleck and General Buell ; but, more than all, the sickness of General 
McClellan. 

The President said he was in great distress, and, as he had been to 
General MeClellan's house, and the General did not ask to see him, and 
as he must talk to somebody, he had sent for General Franklin and my- 
self, to obtain our opinion as to the possibility of soon commencing active 
operations' with the Army of the Potomac. 

To use his own expression, if something was not soon done, the bottom 
would be out of the whole affair; and, if General McClellan did not want 
to use the army, he would like to "borrow i£," provided he could see how 
it could be made to do something. 

The Secretary of State stated the substance of some information he 
considered reliable, as to the strength of the forces on the other side, 
which he had obtained from an Englishman from Fortress Monroe, Rich- 
mond, Manassas, and Centreville, which was to the effect that the enemy 
had twenty thousand men under Huger at Norfolk, thirty thousand at 
Centreville, and, in all, in our front an effective force, capable of being 
brought up at short notice, of about one hundred and three thousand 
men — men not suffering, but well shod, clothed, and fed. In answer to 
the question from the President, what could soon be done with the army, 
I replied that the question as to the when must be preceded by the one as 
to the how and the where. That, substantially, I would organize the army 
into four army corps, placing the five divisions on the Washington side on 
the right bank. Place three of these corps to the front, the right at 
Vienna or its vicinity, the left beyond Fairfax Station, the centre beyond 
Fairfax Court-IIouse, and connect the latter place with the Orange and 
Alexandria Railroad by a railroad now partially thrown up. This would 
enable us to supply these corps without the use of horses, except to dis- 
tribute what was brought up by rail, and to act upon the enemy without 
reference to the bad state of country roads. 

The railroads all lead to the enemy's position. By acting upon them in 
force, besieging his strongholds, if necessary, or getting between them, if 
possible, or making the attempt to do so, and pressing his left, I thought 
we should, in the first place, cause him to bring up all his forces, and 
mass them on the flank mostly pressed — the left — and, possibly, I thought 
probably, we should again get them out of their works, and bring on a 
general engagement on favorable terms to us, at all events keeping him 
fully occupied and harassed. The fourth corps, in connection with a 
force of heavy guns afloat, would operate on his right flank, beyond the 
Occoquan, get behind the batteries on the Potomac, take Aquia, which, 
being supported by the Third Corps over the Occoquan, it could safely 
attempt, and then move on the railroad from Manassas to the Rappahan- 
nock. Having a large cavalry force to destroy bridges, 1 thought by the 
use of one hundred and thirty thousand men thus employed, and the 



774 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

great facilities which the railroads gave us, and the compact positior we 
should occupy, we must succeed by repeated blows in crushing out the 
force in our front, even if it were equal in numbers and strength. The 
road by the Fairfax Court-House to Centreville would give us the means 
to bring up siege mortars and siege materials, and even if we could not 
accomplish the object immediately, by making the campaign one of posi- 
tions instead of one of manoeuvres, to do so eventually, and without risk. 
That this saving of wagon transportation should be effected at once, by 
connecting the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad with the Alexandria roads 
by running a road over the Long Bridge. That when all this could be 
commenced, I could better tell when I knew something more definite as 
to the general condition of the army. 

General Franklin being asked, said he was in ignorance of many things 
necessary to an opinion on the subject, knowing only as to his own 
division, which was ready for the field. As to the plan of operations, on 
being asked by the President if he had ever thought what he would do 
with this army if he had it, he replied that he had, and that it was his 
judgment that it should be taken — what could be spared from the duty 
of protecting the capital — to York River to operate on Richmond. The 
question then came up as to the means at hand of transporting a large 
part of the army by water. The Assistant Secretary of War said the 
means had been fully taxed to provide transportation for twelve thousand 
men. After some further conversation, and in reference to our ignorance 
of the actual condition of the army, the President wished we should come 
together the next night at eight o'clock, and that General Franklin and I 
should meet in the mean time, obtain such further information as we 
might need, and to do so from the staff of the head-quarters of the Army 
of the Potomac. Immediate orders were to be given to make the rail- 
road over Long Bridge. 

January 11. — Held a meeting with General Franklin in the morning at 
the Treasury building, and discussed the question of the operations which 
in our judgment were best under existing circumstances of season, pres- 
ent position of the forces, present condition of the country, to be under- 
taken before going into the matter as to when those operations could be 
set on foot. I urged that we should now find fortifications iu York Liver, 
which would require a movement in that direction to be preceded by a 
naval force of heavy guns to clear them out, as well as the works at West 
Point. That Richmond was now fortified, that we could not hope to 
carry it by a simple march after a successful engagement, that we should 
be obliged to take a siege train with us. That all this would take time, 
which would be improved by the enemy to mass his forces in our front, 
and we should find that we had not escaped any of the difficulties w T e 
have now before this position, but simply lost time and money to find 
those difficulties where we should not have so strong a base to operate 
from, nor so many facilities, nor so large a force as we have here, nor, in 
proportion, so small a one to overcome. That the war now had got to 
be one of positions till we should penetrate the line of the enemy. That 
to overcome him in front, or cut his communication with the South, 
would, by its moral as well as physical effect, prostrate the enemy, and 
enable us to undertake any future operations with ease and certainty of 
success ; hut that, in order of time as of importance, the first thing to be 
done was to overcome this army in our front, which is beleaguering our 
capital, blockading the river, and covering us day by day with the re- 
proach of impotence, and lowering us in the eyes of foreign nations and 
of our people, both North and South, and that nothing but what is not 
necessary for this purpose should go elsewhere. 






The President and General McClellan. 775 

General Franklin suggested whether Governor Chase, in view of what 
ve were charged to do, might not be at liberty to tell us where General 
ournside's expedition had gone. I went and asked him. lie told mo 
that under the circumstances he felt he ought to do so, and said he was 
destined for Newborn, North Carolina, by way of Hatteras Inlet and 
Pamlico Sound, to operate on Raleigh and Beaufort, or either ef them. 
That General McClellan had, by direction of the President, acquainted 
him with his plan, which was to go with a large part of this Army of tlio 
Potomac to Urbana or Toppahannock, on the Rappahannock, and then 
with his bridge train move directly on Richmond. On further consulta- 
tion with General Franklin, it was agreed that our inquiries were to be 
directed to both cases, of going from our present position, and of remov- 
ing the large part of the force to another base further South. 

A question was raised by General Franklin, whether, in deference to 
General McClellan, we should not inform him of the duty we were or- 
dered to perform. I said the order I received was marked " private and 
confidential," and as they came from the President, our Commander-in- 
Chief, I conceived, as a common superior to General McClellan and both 
of us, it was for the President to say, and not us, and that I would con- 
sult the Secretary of the Treasury, who was at hand, and could tell us 
what was the rule in the Cabinet in such matters. The Secretary was of 
opinion that the matter lay entirely with the President. We went to 
Colonel Kingsbury, Chief of Ordnance of the Army of the Potomac, 
Brigadier-General Van Vliet, Chief Quartermaster, and Major Shivers, 
Commissary of Subsistence, and obtained all the information desired. 

Met at the President's in the evening at eight o'clock. Present the 
3a,me as on the first day, with the addition of the Postmaster-General, 
Judge Blair, who came in after the meeting had begun the discussion. I 
read the annexed paper, marked (A), as containing both General Frank- 
lin's and my own views, General Franklin agreeing with me, in view of 
time, &c, required to take this army to another base, that the operation 
could best now be undertaken from the present base, substantially as pro- 
posed. The Postmaster-General opposed the plan, and was for having 
the army, or as much of it as could be spared, go to York River or For- 
tress Monroe, either to operate against Richmond, or to Suffolk and cut 
off Norfolk, that being in his judgment the point (Fortress Monroe or 
York) from which to make a decisive blow ; that the plan of going to the 
front from this position was Bull Run over again, that it was strategically 
defective as was the effort last July, as then we would have the operations 
upon exterior lines, and that it involved too much risk; that there was 
not as much difficulty as had been supposed in removing the army down 
the Chesapeake ; that only from the Lower Chesapeake could any thing 
decisive result against the army at Manassas; that to drive them from 
their present position by operating from our present base would only 
force them to another behind the one they now occupy, and we should 
have all our work to do over again. Mr. Seward thought if we only had 
a victory over them, it would answer, whether obtained at Manassas, or 
further South. Governor Chase replied, in general terms, to Judge 
Blair, to the effect that the moral power of a victory over the enemy in 
his present position would be as great as one elsewhere, all else equal ; 
and the danger lay in the probability that we should find, after losing 
time and millions, that we should have as many difficulties to overcome 
below as we now have above. 

The President wished to have General Meigs in consultation on the 
Bubject of providing water transportation, and desired General Franklin 



776 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

and myself to see him in the morning, and meet again at three o clock 
p. m. the next day. 

January 12. — Met General Franklin at General Meigs's. Conversed 
with him on the subject of our mission at his own house. I expressed 
my views to General Meigs, who agreed with me in the main as to con- 
centrating our efforts against the enemy in front by moving against him 
from our present position. As to. the time in which he could assemble 
water transportation for thirty thousand men, he thought in about from 
four to six weeks. 

Met at the President's. General Meigs mentioned the time in which 
he could assemble transports as a month to six weeks. The general sub- 
ject of operations from the present base was again discussed, General 
Meigs agreeing that it was best to do so, and to concentrate our forces 
for the purpose. The President and Mr. Seward said that General Mc- 
Clellau had been out to seethe President, and was looking quite well; 
and that now, as he was able to assume the charge of the army, the Pres- 
ident would drop any further proceedings with us. The general drift of 
the conversation was as to the propriety of moving the army further 
South, and as to the destination of Burnside's expedition. The Postmas- 
ter-General said that if it was the intention to fight out here (Manassas), 
then we ought to concentrate. It was suggested and urged somewhat on 
the President to countermand, or to have General licClellan counter- 
mand, General Burnside's expedition, and bring it up to Acquia. The 
President was, however, exceedingly averse from interfering, saying he 
disliked exceedingly to stop a thing long since planned, just as it was 
ready to strike. Nothing was done but to appoint anotber meeting the 
next day at 11 o'clock, when we were to meet General McClellan, and 
again discuss the question of the movement to be made, &c, &c. 
• January 13, Monday. — Went to the President's with the Secretary of 
the Treasury. Present, the President, Governor Chase, Governor Seward, 
Postmaster-General, General McClellan, General Meigs, General Frank- 
lin, and myself, and I think the Assistant Secretary of War. The Presi- 
dent, pointing to a map, asked me to go over the plan I had before spoken 
to him of. lie, at the same time, made a brief explanation of how he 
came to bring General Franklin and General McDowell before him. I 
mentioned, in as brief terms as possible, what General Franklin and I had 
done under the President's order, what our investigations had been 
directed upon, and what were our conclusions, giving as nearly as I could 
the substance of the paper hereto annexed, marked (B), referring to going 
to the front from our present base in the way I have hereinbefore stated, 
referring also to a transfer of a part of the army to another base further 
south ; that we had been informed that the latter movement could not be 
commenced under a month to six weeks, - and that a movement to the 
front could be undertaken in all of the present week. General Franklin 
dissented-only as to the time I mentioned for beginning operations in the 
front, not thinking we could get the roads in order by that time. I 
added, commence operations in all of the week, to which he assented. 

I concluded my remarks by saying something apologetic in explanation 
of the position in which we were, to which General McClellan replied 
somewhat coldly, if not curtly: "You are entitled to have any opinion 
you please !" No discussion was entered into by him whatever, the above 
being the only remark he made. 

General Franklin said, that, in giving his opinion as to going to York 
River, he did t knowing it was in the direction of General McClellan's 
plans. 

I said that I had acted, entirely in the dark. 



The President and General McClellan. 777 

General Meigs spoke of his agency in having us called in by the Presi- 
dent. 

The President then asked what and when any tiling could be done, 
again going over somewhat the same ground he had done with General 
Franklin and myself. 

General McClellan said the case was so clear a blind man could see it, 
and then spoke of the difficulty of ascertaining what force he could count 
upon; that he did not know whether he could let General Butler go to 
Ship Island, or whether he could re-enforce General Burnside. Much con- 
versation ensued, of rather a general character, as to the discrepancy 
between the number of men paid for and the number effective. 

The Secretary of the Treasury then put a direct question to General 
McClellan, to the effect as to what he intended doing with his array, and 
when he intended doing it. After a long silence, General McClellan an- 
swered that the movement in Kentucky was to precede any one from this 
place, and that that movement might now be forced. That he had directed 
General Buell, if he could not hire wagons for his transportation, that he 
must take them. After another pause, he said he must say he was very 
unwilling to develop his plans, always believing that in military matters 
the fewer persons who w r ere knowing to them the better; that he would 
tell them if he was ordered to do so. The President then asked him if he 
had counted upon any particular time; he did not ask what that time 
was, but had he in his own mind any particular time fixed, when a move- 
ment could be commenced. He replied he had. " Then," rejoined the 
President, "I will adjourn this meeting." 

Exhibit A. 

Memoranda on which to base an opinion, required by the President, as to 
ichen the Army of the Potomac can assume offensive operations. 

The time of moving depends on whether the army is in whole, or in 
great part, to be removed by water to another base of operations to the 
south ; or, whether it is to move against the enemy now immediately in 
its front. General Franklin favored the first, and I inclined to the second. 

Inquiries w r ere directed in each case. 

1st. — If the base is to be changed to York River, as has been suggested, 
the advance would have to be accompanied by a fleet with heavy guns, 
to silence the batteries in York River and the works at its head, and to 
keep the river from being obstructed as is the Potomac at this time. 

To organize such a fleet I should think would require more time than 
the present state of affairs would permit. 

To land the force this side of York River with a view to turn the head 
of it at West Point would require additional land transportation, and a 
heavy additional item for the means to pass the rivers (perhaps in face of 
an enemy) between the point of debarkation and Richmond, which is 
supposed as the objective point in such a campaign. 

As Richmond is fortified, a siege train and materials would be required. 

In considering the quantity of land transportation required to move on 
Richmond from anypoint of debarkation this side of York Biver, it should 
be kept in mind that at this season in this climate the roads are heavy ; 
and, when used by large trains of artillery or baggage, impassable, unless 
corduroyed, and, as the army could not move on only one road, to make 
several w T ould take time, which would be improved by the enemy to mass 
forces in the front. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to conceal 
from the enemy our point of landing ; and he is at this time expecting us 
at YaiX, where he has already a considerable force, and to which, from 



778 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Richmond, lie Las a railroad upon which to bring re-enforcements, and a 
railroad communication to Acquia Creek and his main force at Manassas. 
It would therefore be necessary to land, in the first place, with a heavy 
force, to avoid the disaster of being overwhelmed and driven into the 
bay. 

The Chief of the Quartermaster's Department at the head-quarters of 
the Army of the Potomac, Brigadier-General Van Vliet estimates that 
with every exertion; and taking canal-boats, brigs, &c, &c, to be found 
in the waters of the Chesapeake and Delaware, he could assemble trans- 
portation, for thirty thousand men, in about twenty days from the time 
he should reo^re the order. Nothing is on hand s;We what is in cur- 
rent use nere on the Potomac. The above estimate does not include any 
hind transportation for the troops after their debarkation, nor any for the 
horses of the cavalry, but only for the troops and their baggage and sub- 
sistence. 

The Assistant Secretary of War, I understand, is of opinion that all the 
available means of water transportation would be fully taxed to provide 
for even twelve thousand men. 

In view of the difficulties mentioned, and unforeseen delays, always 
sure to happen, I do not think a move by water of so large a force as I 
deem necessary could be counted upon under a month. 

To move against the enemy in front, we have thirteen divisions, of 
about ten thousand men each, and General Banks's Division at Fred- 
erick. 

There is for this force four thousand four hundred wagons ready for 
service. 

If we use the railroads out of Alexandria, and connect them over the 
Long Bridge with the Baltimore Railroad, about two thousand of these 
wagons and ten thousand animals may be dispensed with, certainly for 
the present. 

Of artillery there is sufficient (three hundred and fifty pieces). 

Of artillery ammunition there is sufficient to begin with, good for all 
but New York regiments. Twelve thousand three hundred and forty 
new Austrian and fifteen to twenty thousand rifles in New York ; ammu- 
nition for the latter, none for the former. 

Small-arms ammunition sufficient to commence with. 

Siege train : — ten ten-inch mortars, with ammunition ; five thirty -two- 
pound howitzers, with troops. 

Shelter tents and stretchers, forty-three thousand. 

From the foregoing it seems to me the army should be ready to move 
in all of next week. The main difficulty, I think, is in its yet incomplete 
organization, which could soon be remedied. 

(Signed) I. McDowell, Brigadier- General. 

January 10, 1S62. 

TO GENERAL m'cLELLAN. 

President Lincoln addressed the following letter to General McClellan 
after the latter had landed his forces on the Peninsula in the spring of 
1862. It relates to several points in which the General's action had 
already excited a good deal of public uneasiness, and been made the sub- 
ject of public comment: — 

Foktkess Monroe, May 9, 1S62. 

My Dear Sin : — I have just assisted the Secretary of War in forming 
the part of a dispatch to you, relating to army corps, which aispatch, 



Warnings against Assassination; 779 

of course, will have reached you long before this will. I wish to say a 
few words to you privately on this subject. I ordered the army corps 
organization not only on the unanimous opinion of the twelve generals 
of division, but also on the unanimous opinion of every military man 
I could get an opinion from, and every modern military book, yourself 
only excepted. Of course, I did not on my own judgment pretend to 
understand the subject. I now think it indispensable for you to know 
how your struggle against it is received in quarters which we cannot 
entirely disregard. It is looked upon as merely an effort to pamper ono 
or two pets, and to persecute and degrade their supposed rivals. I havo 
had no word from Sumner, Heintzelman, or Keyes. The commanders 
of these corps are of course the three highest officers with you, but I 
am constantly told that you have no consultation or communication 
with them ; that you consult and communicate with nobody but Fitz 
John Porter, and perhaps General Franklin. I do not say these com- 
plaints are true or just; but, at all events, it is proper you should know 
of their existence. Do the commanders of corps disobey your orders in 
any thing? 

When you relieved General Hamilton of his command the other day, 
you thereby lost the confidence of at least one of your best friends in the 
Senate. And here let me say, not as applicable to you personally, that 
Senators and Eepresentatives speak of me in their places as they please 
without question ; and that officers of the army must cease addressing 
insulting letters to them for taking no greater liberty with them. But to 
return, are you strong enough, even with my help, to set your foot upon 
the neck of Sumner, Heintzelman, and Keyes, all at once? This is a 
practical and very serious question for you. 

Yours truly, A. Lincoln. 



€. 

WARNINGS AGAINST ASSASSINATION. 

Allusion is made in the preceding pages to warnings which reached 
the Government at various times, of plots on foot against the lives of 
the President and other eminent officials. In reply to a letter of this 
kind from Hon. John Bigelow, then American Consul at Paris, Mr. 
Seward, the Secretary of State, wrote as follows : — 

Department or State, Washington, July 15, 1864. 

* * * There is no doubt that, from a period anterior to the 
breaking out of the insurrection, plots and conspiracies for the purposes 
of assassination have been frequently formed and organized, and it is not 
unlikely that such a one as lias been reported to you is now in agitation 
among the insurgents. If it be so, it need furnish no ground for anxiety. 
Assassination is not an American practice or habit, and one so vicious 
and so desperate cannot be engrafted into our political system. This 
conviction of mine has steadily gained strength since the civil war begun. 
Every day's experience confirms it. The President during the heated 
season occupies a country house near the Soldiers' Home, two or three 
miles from the city. He goes to and from that place on horseback night 
and morning unguarded. I go there unattended at all hours, by daylight 
and moonlight, by starlight, and without any light. 



780 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

At a later date, very soon, indeed, before the assassination of the 
President and the horrible attempt upon his own life, Mr. Seward re- 
ceived the following communication from our consul in London. It was 
upon the strength of these letters that the consultation was held to 
which allusion is made in the preceding page: — 

United States Consulate, London, March 17, 18G5. 

My Dear Sir: — I herewith enclose for your perusal two private letters 
received this week from " B," my secret agent in France. On receiving 
the first, dated March 12th, I immediately wrote to him for a more full 
statement of all he knew about its contents. I stated to him that the 
story seemed very improbable ; that if they intended to resort to such 
diabolical modes of warfare, they could find instruments enough near 
at hand to serve them in such a capacity, and have their work done or 
attempted more speedily than it could be by sending assassins from 
Europe ; that the assassins would be sure to forfeit their own lives, &c. 
At the same time I could not shut out from my mind the idea that the 
starving of our prisoners, shooting and torturing them, the hotel burn- 
ings, the piracies, the hanging of Union men in the insurgent States, the 
murdering of prisoners of war in cold blood after surrendering, and 
their manifold acts of cruelty, rendered the purposes named not only 
probable, but in harmony with their character and acts. My letter 
brought the further explanation contained' in the second letter of the 14th 

inst. You perceive the statement of B. rests on the declaration of , 

or a man who now goes by that name. He is a business agent of the rebels, 
and has the confidence of the leaders to as great an extent perhaps as 
any one employed by them, or any one under their direction, lie 
travels most of the time from place to place, giving directions and super- 
intending the purchase end shipment of Avar material. B. has travelled 
much with him, and seems to have his entire confidence. I do not think 

would make such a revelation to B. unless he believed it well 

founded- If they are to come out openly as professional assassins, 
it is not at all probable that the distinguished persons named are the 
only ones selected for their vengeance, or that our Chief Magistrate, or 
General Grant, are left out of their r61e. The dangers they see to them 
\in the calm forbearance, the inflexible justice and firm determination of 
President Lincoln, will not be overlooked by them. 

According to my request, a full description of the man calling himself 
Clark is given in the second letter. Johnston is unknowD to " B." If 
Clark has really set forth on such a mission, he will probably attempt to 
make his way into Sherman's camp as a private soldier, and attempt the 
deed during an engagement when Sherman is under fire. 

"Whether there is any actual foundation for what is set forth in the 
letters or not, I think it not my duty to withhold them, for fear it may be 
only another added to the thousand false rumors which have got into 
circulation. I send you all I have been able to learn on the subject, 
that you may act as you deem expedient in the case. Permit me to ex- 
press my earnest desire, whatever may be the wish of the rebels in re- 
gard to you, and I dare say they are the worst that fiendish brains can 
entertain, that your valuable life may long be spared to your friends and 
the service of the Eepublic. 

I remain, dear sir, most truly yours, 

F. LT. Morse. 

LTon. TVit.i.iam FT. Seward, Secretary of State. 

P. S. — Please regard B.'s letter as strictly confidential, I mean as far as 
the name of the writer is concerned. 



Warnings against Assassination. 781 



Pakis, Sunday, March 12, 1SC5. 
My Dear Sib : — I wrote you on Friday eve late, in hopes it would 
..each you at your hotel last evening. I have learned only an hour since, 
that on Tuesday or Wednesday a steamer will be in waiting at Belisle, 
or the island of Oleron (the last named some forty miles off the mouth 
of Bordeaux Erie) with war material and supplies for the rams; most 
of the stuff is from Hamburg, reshipped on board of an English steamer, 
which has been chartered for the purpose. She is a Newcastle steamer, 
aud said to be very swift. I must communicate at once with Walker 
at Ferrol. Two desperate characters have just left here (on Wed- 
nesday, I believe, but not sure), one for the North and the other for 
the South ; one of them I know ; he has been loafing here for some time, 
hard up. His name is Clark, the other Johnston, but to the best of my 
knowledge I had never seen him, he having been here only a few days. 
Their object is the assassination of Sherman and Mr. Seward. Clark is 
to join Sherman's army and accomplish his deed. The other goes direct 
to Washington, and the first opportunity that offers kill Mr. Seward. 
Their expenses are paid, and if successful in the accomplishment of their 
murderous designs, are to receive five thousand dollars each. Here is a 
pretty state of affairs ; and I fear those are not the only ones that they 
intend wreaking their vengeance upon, and you must take immediate 
steps to convey this to Mr. Seward and General Sherman, as I feel posi- 
tive it is true, for the party that divulged to me has the greatest confi- 
dence in me, and would not have said such a thing to me were it not 
true. They think by getting rid of Mr. Seward that it will be utterly 
impossible to get another as able to fill his place, as they say, so rabid 
for the utter annihilation of the Southern cause. And Sherman being 
the only real General that we have got, if he could be got rid of, the 
task is an easy one, as there is no Yankee, to use their expression, to be 
found that can fill his place. And only see the ingenuity of the rebels 
here ; they have caused to be circulated, and it is quite current, that 
General Sherman is dead. This is done for the sole cause to prepare the 
public mind to receive his death beforehand, so as that they may not be 
taken by surprise. It is from beginning to end a deep laid plot, and the 
Devil himself is no match for them. I have given you all the facts so far 
as I know, and at once, as I considered it my duty so to do as soon as 
possible, so that you may convey it to Washington with all dispatch. I 
don't know this Johnston, or I would describe him, so that he might bo 
arrested at once, but to my knowledge I have never seen him. Cooper 
came last night, and to-day spent an hour with me. On leaving he said 
he would return and dine with me, but about an hour since I learned 
that he went off in haste to Cherbourg. I don't know what's up 
there, as I have heard nothing from them ; but there must be something 
in the wind. Friday a courier was sent off as I stated to you, as I was 
asked to go ; but being ill I could not, and to-day, Cooper leaving so sud- 
denly, looks suspicious. I can give you a full description of Clark at 
once if you wish it. I am better, and quite able to undertake the jour- 
ney to Bordeaux or Ferrol, but as yet keep myself in doors, so that I 
may not be called on to go anywhere for them before I hear from you : 
then I can excuse myself for a few days in the country, so as to be able 
to get to Bordeaux. I hope you have received my note on Saturday eve, 

and written me to-day. If I am to go to B there is no time to be 

lost. If you have not written me before you receive this, send me twenty 
pounds, so that I may be prepared for any emergency. Hoping that all 
of the first of the note will be received at Washington in time to frustrate 
the hellish designs, I am truly yours, B. 



782 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 



Paris, March 14, 1S65. 

Dear Sir: — Yours of yesterday came duly to hand this morning, and I 
answer in as brief a manner as possible to its contents in every particular, 
as you request. 

The ram, at Bordeaux, leaves that port to go to Germany, where re- 
port says she is to be sold to the Prussian Government. So did the other 
— now the Stonewall, in Confederate hands, laying at Ferrol, Spain — 
leave Bordeaux, for the use of the Danish Government. They must use 
strategy to get them out of a French port — once out, they can do as they 
please with her. I am perfectly satisfied, and I believe it beyond a ques- 
tion of doubt, that the ram now at-Bordeaux belongs to, and is intended 
for the use of the rebels, and will go into their hands, if not directly, in- 
directly, especially if there is any pressure used by the French Govern- 
ment. But my opinion is, this Government will only wink at her depar- 
ture. I have repeatedly (being one of the order of the Sons) heard the 
above things discussed, from time to time, by McCulloch, DeLeon, Ileusti*, 
Macfarlan, and others of the secret order. The captain of the Stonewall, 
Captain Page, is here, and has been for some days (I forgot to mention 
this in my last), as well as several of the officers of the late rebel steamer 
Ilorida, and I believe they leave to-day. The Stonewall is lying at 
Ferrol, and the Niagara is at Corunna — two different harbors, but not far 
apart. I hear nothing as to when they intend to leave Ferrol, but this 
much I have learned — that when they are ready to go to sea, they will 
run one to Corunna where the Niagara is, and demand of the Spanish 
Government twenty-four hours' detention of the Niagara, so as to enable 
them to put to sea. But if Commodore Craven adopts the plan I sug- 
gested when I last saw him, this plan of theirs will be easily evaded. 
Clark I believe to be the real name of the party of whom I wrote you in my 
last; he has been hanging on here for some time. They could have no 
possible object in imposing on me in this particular. That's his business, 
and both he and Johnston have gone, for the avowed purpose, as I have 
before stated to you, of taking the lives of Mr. Seward and General 
Sherman. I have not the least doubt but that there are others watch- 
ing for the same opportunity. The opinion is with many of tliem here, 
that Mr. Seward is tie facto the President, and does just as he pleases, and 
were it not for him, they could come to some amicable arrangement. It 
would be useless for me to repeat to you all that I hear on the subject, and 
the arguments pro and con. This Clark, I believe, has some other mis- 
sion as well as that of seeking the life of General Sherman. He is in height 
about five feet nine inches, rather slender, thin in flesh, high cheek-bones, 
low forehead, eyes dark and sunken, very quiet, seldom or ever speaks 
in company unless spoken to, has a large dark-brown mustache, and 
large, long goatee; hair much darker than whiskers, and complexion 
rather sallow. While here wore gray clothes and wide-awake slouch - 
hat. He is a Texan by birth, has a very determined look, and from all 
appearances, I should judge, would, if possible, accomplish whatever lie 
undertakes. The other man, Johnston, I know nothing of, as he was 
only here some three or four days — he came from Canada, via Liverpool — 
nor would it be prudent for me to make any inquiries concerning him, 
under the circumstances, as, if any thing ever transpires, and he was 
taken, suspicion from that fact might point to me. And I beg that on no 
occasion will you ever make use of my name, so that they could get any 
clue to me; if you did, from that moment my fate would be sealed, espe- 
cially as I have bound myself to their cause, under so fearful an oath. I 
once entertained a very high opinion of the Southerners, but from recent 



Relating to the Assassination. 783 

facts and events I have changed those opinions, and now my firm belief 
is, that they would stop at no act, if necessary to accomplish their dear, 
cherished Confederation. The offer, five thousand dollars, is a good one, 
and there is to be found plenty who would gladly catch at it. You can- 
not for one moment have the slightest idea of their feelings towards tho 
North, and it increases as their struggle becomes more desperate. The 
heads here are in daily consultation, and what is there discussed I have 
no means of ascertaining. It was Cooper who told mo of these two men 
going out on their diabolical mission, or I perhaps should never have 
heard of the matter at all, and I considered it my duty to convey to you 
the facts as I got them, at once, so that, if possible, their designs might 
be thwarted, and every precaution taken that was necessary ; for I repeat 
again what I have already done to you before: they are bent on destruc- 
tion, and will not stop at any object, even to the taking of life, so as to 
attain their ends — and mark me, Mr. Seward is not the only one they 
will assassinate. I have heard some fearful oaths, and it's war to tho 
teeth with them. I feel confident that there is some secret understanding 
between them and the Emperor of this Government; at least I am given 
to understand so. The death of the Duke de Morny has deprived them 
of an interview with the Emperor, which was to have taken place, if I am 
rightly informed, on Sunday last. My sickness has prevented me from 
being fully posted to all recent movements, but I am in hopes that my 
health will in a short time be fully re-established, and after my return 
from Bordeaux, I shall be in possession of all movements. I have written 
at some length, but required, as you requested a full explanation of the 
foregoing facts. Be kind enough to see that my name is not used at 
Washington, for there are plenty on the sharp lookout there, and it 
would be heralded back here, and it might prove fatal for me. I believe 
I cannot add auy thing more at present. You did not send me all I re- 
quested; please send it at once to Bordeaux by return of mail. I leave 
for Bordeaux to-night, and will do as you request. 

Believe me truly yours, B. 



REPORTS, DISPATCHES, AND PROCLAMATIONS RELATING 
TO THE ASSASSINATION. 

Wak Department, Washington, April 15, 1.30 a. m. 
Major-General Dix, New York: 

This evening, at about 9.30' p. m., at Ford's Theatre, the President, 
while sitting in his private box with Mrs. Lincoln, Mrs. Harris, and Major 
Rathburn, was shot by an assassin, who suddenly entered the box and 
approached behind the President. 

The assassin then leaped upon the stage, brandishing a large dagger or 
Unife, and made his escape in the rear of the theatre. 

The pistol-ball entered the back of the President's head and penetrated 
nearly through the head. The wound is mortal. 

The President has been insensible ever since it was inflicted, and is now 
dying. 

About the same hour an assassin, whether the same or not, entered Mr. 
Seward's apartments, and, under pretence of having a prescription, was 
shown to the Secretary's sick chamber. The assassin immediately rushed 
to the bed and inflicted two or three stabs on the throat and two on the face. 



784 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

It is hoped the wounds may not he mortal. My apprehensioi is that 
they will prove fatal. 

The nurse alarmed Mr. Frederick Seward, who was in an adjoining 
room, and he hastened to the door of his father's room, when he met the 
assassin, who indicted upon him one or more dangerous wounds. The 
recovery of Frederick Seward is doubtful. 

It is not probable that the President will live through tne night. 

General Grant and wife were advertised to be at the theatre this even- 
ing, but he started to Burlington at six o'clock this evening. 

At a Cabinet meeting, at which General Grant was present, the subject 
of the state of the country and the prospect of a speedy peace were dis- 
cussed. The President was very cheerful and hopeful, and spoke very 
kindly of General Lee and others of the Confederacy, and of the establish- 
ment of government in Virginia. 

All the members of the Cabinet, except Mr. Seward, are now in attend- 
ance upon the President. 

I have seen Mr. Seward, hut he and Frederick were both unconscious. 
Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

War Department, Washington, April 15, 3 A. m. 

Major-General Dix, "New York: 

The President still breathes, hut is quite insensible, as he has been ever 
since he was shot. He evidently did not see the person who shot him, 
but was looking on the stage, as he was approached from behind. 

Mr. Seward has rallied, and it is hoped he may live. 

Frederick Seward's condition is very critical. 

The attendant who was present was shot through the lungs, and is not 
expected to live. 

The wounds of Major Seward are not serious. 

Investigation strongly indicates J. Wilkes Booth as the assassin of the 
President. Whether it was the same or a different person that attempted 
to murder Mr. Seward remains in doubt. 

Chief-Justice Carter is engaged in taking the evidence. 

Every exertion has been made to prevent the escape of the murderer. 
Eis horse has been found on the road near Washington. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

War Department, Washington, April 15, 4.10 a. m. 

Major-General Dix: 

The President continues insensible, and is sinking. 

Secretary Seward remains without change. 

Frederick Seward's skull is fractured in two places, besides a severe 
cut upon the head. The attendant is still alive, but hopeless. Major 
Seward's wounds are not dangerous. 

It is now ascertained with reasonable certainty that two assassins were 
engaged in the horrible crime — AVilkes Booth being the one that shot the 
President, and the other a companion of his, whose name is not known,, 
but whose description is so clear that he can hardly escape. 

It appears, from a letter found in Booth's trunk, that the murder was 
planned before the 4th of March, but fell through then because the 
accomplice backed out until " Richmond could be heard from." 

Booth and his accomplice were at the livery-stable at six o'clock last 
evening, and leit there with their horses about ten o'clock, or shortly 
before that hour. 

It would appear that they had for several days been seeking tkei* 



The Death-Bed. 785 

chance, but for some unknown reason it was not carried into effect until 
last night. 

One of them has evidently made his way to Baltimore ; the other has 
not yet been traced. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 



Wae Department, Washington, April 15, 1SC5. 

To Major-General Dix. Xew York: 

Abraham Lincoln died this morning at twenty-two minutes after 
seven o'clock. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 



THE DEATH-BED. 

Unofficial Account of the last Moments of the President. 

At twenty minutes past seven o'clock the President breathed his last, 
closing his eyes as if falling to sleep, and his countenance assuming an 
expression of perfect serenity. There were no indications of pain, and it 
was not known that he was dead until the gradually decreasing respira- 
tion ceased altogether. 

The Rev. Dr. Gurley, of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 
immediately on its being ascertained that life was extinct, knelt at the 
bedside and offered an impressive prayer, which was responded to by all 
present. 

Dr. Gurley then proceeded to the front parlor, where Mrs. Lincoln, 
Captain Robert Lincoln, Mr. John Hay, the Private Secretary, and others 
were waiting, where he again offered a prayer for the consolation of the 
family. 

The following minutes, taken by Dr. Abbott, show the condition of the 
late President throughout the night: — 

1 1 o'clock, pulse 44. 

1T..Q5 o'clock, pulse 45, and growing weaker. 

11.10 o'clock, pulse 4."). 

11.15 o'clock, pulse 42. 

11.20 o'clock, pnl.se 45, respiiation 27 to 29. 

11.25 (-'clock, pulse 42. 

11.32 o'clock, pulse 48 and full. 

1 1.40 o'clock, pulse 45. 

11.45 o'clock, pulse 45, respiration 22. 

12 o'clock, pulse 48, respiration 22. 
12.15 o'clock, pulse 48, respiration 21. 
Eochymosis both eyes. 

12.30" o'clock, pulse 45. 
12.32 o'clock, pulse 60. 
12.35 o'clock, pulse 86. 

12.4<i o'clock, pulse 69; right eye much swollen, and ecchymosia. 
12.45 o'clock, puis..- 70. 

12.55 o'clock, pulse 80, struggling motion of arms. 
1 o'clock, pulse 86, respiration 30. 
1.30 o'clock, pulse 95, appearing easier. 

1.45 o'clock, pulse 86, very quiet, respiration irregular, Mrs. Lincoln 
present. 

50 



7S6 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

2.10 o'clock, Mrs. Lincoln retired with Robert Lincoln to an adjoining 
room. 

2.30 o'clock, President very quiet, pulse 54, respiration 28. 
2.52 o'clock, pulse 48, respiration 30. 

3 o'clock, visited again by Mrs. Lincoln. 
3.25 o'clock, respiration 24, and regular. 
3.35 o'clock, prayer by Lev. Dr. Gurley. 

4 o'clock, respiration 20, and regular. 
4.15 o'clock, pulse 60, respiration 25. 
5.50 o'clock, respiration 28, regular. 

6 c clock, pulse tailing, respiration 28. 

6.30 o'clock, still failing, and labored breathing. 

1 o'clock, symptoms of immediate dissolution. 

7.22 o'clock, death. 

Surrounding the death-bed of the President were Vice-President John- 
son; Secretaries Stanton, Welles, McCulloch, and Usher; Postmaster- 
General Dennison and Attorney - General Speed; Generals llalleck, 
Meigs, Farnsworth, Augur, and Todd; Senator Sumner; Lev. Dr. 
Gurley; Speaker Colfax; Ex-Governor Farwell; Judge Carter, Judge 
Gtto; Surgeon-General Barnes ; Doctors Crane, Stone, Abbott, and Hall; 
M. B. Field and II. F. Andrews. 

War Department, Washington, April 15, 3 p.m. 

Major-General Dix, New York : 

Official notice of the death of the late President, Abraham Lincoln, was 
given by the heads of departments this morning to Andrew Johnson, 
Vice-President, upon whom the Constitution devolved the office of Presi- 
dent. Mr. Johnson, upon receiving this notice, appeared before the Hon. 
Salmon P. Chase, Chief-Justice of the United States, and took the oath 
of office as President of the United States, and assumed its duties and 
functions. At twelve o'clock the President met the heads of departments 
in Cabinet meeting at the Treasury building, and among other business 
the following was transacted : — 

First. The arrangements for the funeral of the late President were 
referred to the several secretaries, as far as relates to their respective 
departments. 

Second. William Hunter, Esq., was appointed Acting Secretary of State 
during the disability of Mr. Seward and his son, Frederick Seward, the 
Assistant Secretary. 

Third. The President formally announced that he desired to retain the 
present secretaries of departments of his Cabinet, and they would go oa 
and discharge their respective duties in the same manner as before the 
memorable event that had changed the head of the Government. 

All business in the departments was suspended during the day. 

The surgeons report that the condition of Mr. Seward remains un- 
changed, lie is doing well. 

No improvement in Mr. Frederick Seward. 

The murderers have not yet been apprehended. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

TnE ASSASSINS. 

Circular from the Provost-Marshal General. 

War Department, Provost-Marsh ai, General's Bureau, 
Washington, D. C, April 15, 'J.-W a. m. f 

It is believed that the assassins of the President and Secretary Seward 

are attempting to escape to Canada. You will make a careful and thor- 



Reward Offered by President Johnson. 787 

ough examination of all persons attempting to cross from the "United 
States into Canada, and will arrest suspicion* persons. The most vgilant 
scrutiny on your part and tlie force at your disposal is demanded. A de- 
scription of the parties supposed to be implicated in the murder will be 
telegraphed you to-day ; but in the mean time be active in preventing tho 
crossing of any suspicious persons. 

By order of the Secretary of War. 

N. L. Jeffers, Brevet Brigadier-General, Acting Provost-Marshal Gen- 
eral. 

REWARD OFFERED BY SECRETARY STANTON. 

Win Department, Washington, April 20, 1S65. 

Major-General Jonx A. Dix, New York : 

The murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still 
at large. Fifty thousand dollars reward will be paid by this Department 
for his apprehension in addition to any reward otfered by municipal 
authorities or State Executives. 

Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the apprehension 
of G. A. Atzerot, sometimes called "Port Tobacco," one of Booth's ac- 
complices. Twenty-five thousand dollars reward will be paid for the 
apprehension of David 0. Harold, another of Booth's accomplices. A 
liberal reward will be paid for any information that shall conduce to the 
arrest of either the above-named criminals or their accomplices. All 
persons harboring or secreting the said persons, or either of them, or 
aiding or assisting their concealment or escape, will be treated as accom- 
plices in the murder of the President and the attempted assassination of 
the Secretary of State, and shall be subject to trial before a military com- 
mission and the punishment of death. 

Let the stain of innocent blood be removed from the land by the arrest 
and punishment of the murderers. 

All good citizens are exhorted to aid public justice on this occasion. 
Every man should consider his own conscience charged with this solemn 
duty, and rest neither night nor day until it be accomplished. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

FLIGHT OF THE ASSASSINS. 

War Department, Washington, April 22. 

Major-General Joiin A. Dix, New York: 

The counties of Prince George, Charles, and St. Mary's have, during 
the whole war, been noted for hostility to the Government, and its pro- 
tection to rebel blockade-runners, rebel spies, and every species of public 
enemy ; the murderers of the President harbored there before the murder, 
and Booth tied in that direction. If he escapes it will be owing to rebel 
accomplices in that direction. 

The military commander of the department will surely take measures 
to briug these rebel sympathizers and accomplices in murder to a sense of 
their criminal conduct. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

THE CONSPIRACY ORGANIZED IN CANADA. 

War Department, Washington, April 24, 1SG5. 

Major-General JonN A. Dix, New York : 

This Department has information that the President's murder was 
organized in Canada, and approved at Richmond. 

One of the assassins, now in prison, who attempted to kill Mr. Seward, 
is believed to be one of the St. Albans raiders. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 



788 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 



BOOTH KILLED HAROLD CAPTURED. 

War Department, Washington, April IS, 1S65, 11 r. iw. 

Major-General Dix, New York: 

J. Wilkes Booth and Harold were chased from the swamp in St. Mary's 
County, Maryland, to Garrett's farm, near Port Royal, on the Rappahan- 
nock, hy Colonel Baker's forces. 

The barn in which they took refuge was fired. 

Booth, in making his escape, was shot through the head and killed, 
lingering about three hours, and Harold was captured. 

Booth's body and Harold are now here. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

REWARD OFFERED BY PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 

By the President of the United States of America. 

A PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas, It appears from the evidence in the bureau of military justice 
that the atrocious murder of the late President Abraham Lincoln, and 
the attempted assassination of the Hon. W, II. Seward, Secretary of 
State, were incited, concerted, and procured by and between Jefferson 
Davis, late of Richmond, Va., and Jacob Thompson, Clement C. Clay, 
Beverly Tucker, George N". Saunders, W. C. Cleary, and other rebels and 
traitors against the Government of the United States, harbored in Canada: 
now, therefore, to the end that justice may be done, I, Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States, do offer and promise for the arrest of said 
persons, or either of them, within the limits of the United States, so that 
they can be brought to trial, the following rewards : One hundred thou- 
sand dollars for the arrest of Jefferson Davis; twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars for the arrest of Clement C. Clay ; twenty-five thousand dollars for 
the arrest of Jacob Thompson, late of Mississippi ; twenty-live thousand 
dollars for the arrest of George N. Saunders ; twenty -five thousand dol- 
lars for the arrest of Beverly Tucker, and ten thousand dollars for the 
arrest of William C. Cleary, late clerk of Clement C. Clay. 

The Provost-Marshal General of the United States is directed to cause 
a description of said persons, with notice of the above rewards, to be 
published. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused thb 
seal of the United States to be affixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, the second day of May, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of 

[l. s.] the independence of the United States of America the eighty- 
ninth. 
By the President : Andrew Johnson. 

W. Hunter, Acting Secretary of State. 

-\ 

THE FUNERAL. 
War Department, Washington, Wednesday, April IT, 1 p. m. 

Major-General Dix : 

The arrangements for conveying the President's remains to Spring- 
field, Illinois, have been changed this morning. They will go direct from 
Washington to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and 
thence to Springfield. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 



Orders from Secretary Stanton. 789 



SECOND DISPATCH. 
War Department, Washington, April 19, 1SG5, 11 p. m. 

Major-General Joitn A. Dix New York; 

It lias been finally concluded to conform to the original arrangements 
made yesterday for the conveyance of the remains of the late President, 
Abraham Lincoln, from Washington to Springfield, viz. : By way of Bal- 
timore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, 
Columbus, Indianapolis, and Chicago, to Springfield. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS. 

Washington, April 15, 1SG5. 

To J. C. Derby, United States Dispatch Agent, New York : 

Send a copy of the following to Mr. Adams at London by the steamer 
of to-day, if in time : — 

Charles Francis Adams, &c, &c. : 

The sad duty devolves upon me to announce the assassination of the 
President, at Ford's Theatre, last night, by a pistol-shot from a person 
who entered his box for the purpose. The assassin escaped, but it is 
supposed has since been arrested. 

The President died at half-past seven o'clock this morning. 

Vice-President Johnson has assumed the functions of President, having 
been sworn in by the Chief-Justice. 

About the same time an attempt was made by, it is believed, a differ- 
ent person, to assassinate Mr. Seward; but the murderer only succeeded 
in inflicting painful and severe wounds, principally upon his face. 

Mr. F. W. Seward was beaten over the head with a heavy weapon in 
the hands of the person who attacked his father, and is grievously hurt. 
His brother was also wounded by the dagger of the assassin, as was Mr. 
Hansell, a messenger of the department, who was witli the Secretary, 
and the male nurse in attendance. 

William IIcntei:, Acting Secretary of State. 

[The above telegraphic dispatch was sent off by the Portland steamer 
at three p. u. on Saturday, April 15.] 

acting secretary hunter to ins subordinates. 

Department of State, Washington, April 17, 1SG5. 
It it hereby ordered that, in honor of the memory of our late illustrious 
Chief Magistrate, all officers and others subject to the orders of the 
Secretary of State, wear crape upon the left arm for the period of six 
months. W. Hunter, Acting Sccrct<o-y. 

ORDERS FROM SECRETARY STANTON AND GENERAL GRANT. 

War Department. Adjutant-General's Office, I 
Washington, April 10, IS65. f 

General Orders, No. 6C>.— The following order of the Secretary of 

War announces to the armies of the United States the untimely and 

lamentable death of the illustrious Abraham Lincoln, late President of 

the United States: — 

War Department, Washington, April 16, 1SC5. 

The distressing duty has devolved upon the Secretary of War to 
announce to the armies of the United States, that at twenty-two minutes 



790 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

after seven o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the 15th day of April, 
1865, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, died of a mortal 
wound indicted on him by an assassin. The armies of the United States 
will share with their fellow-citizens the feelings of grief and horror 
inspired by the most atrocious murder of their great and beloved Presi- 
dent and Commander-in-Chk«f with profound sorrow, will mourn hia 
death as a national calamity. The head-quarters of every department, 
post, station, fort, and arsenal will be draped in mourning for thirty days, 
and appropriate funeral honors will be paid by every army, and in every 
department, and at every military post, and at the Military Academy at 
"West Point, to the memory of the late illustrious Chief Magistrate of the 
nation, and Commander-in-Chief of the armies. Lieutenant-General 
Grant will give the necessary instructions for canying this order into 
effect. Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

On the day after the receipt of the order at head- quarters of every 
military division, department, army-post, station, fort, and arsenal, and 
at. the Military Academy at West Point, the troops and cadets will bo 
paraded at ten o'clock, a. m., and the order read to them. After which 
all labor and operations for the day will cease, and be suspended, as far as 
practicable in a state of war. The national flag will be displayed at half- 
staff. At the dawn of day thirteen guns will be fired, and afterwards at 
intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and the setting of the sun 
a single gun, and at the close of the day a national salute of thirty-six 
guns. The officers of the armies of the United States will wear the 
badge of mourning on the left arm and on their swords, and the colors 
of their commands and regiments will be put in mourning for the period 
of six months. 

By command of Lieutenant-General Grant. 

(Signed) W. A. NionoLS, Assistant Adjutant- General. 

"War Department, "Washington, April 1G, 18G5. 

Lieutenant-General Grant, U. S. Army, Commanding Armies of the 
United States, Washington, D. C: 
General : — You will please announce by general order to the armies 
of the United States, that on Saturday, the 15th day of April, 1865, by 
reason of the death of Abraham Lincoln, the office of President of the 
United States devolved upon Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, who, on 
the samo day, took the official oath prescribed for the President, and 
entered upon the duties of that office. 

Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

"War Department, Adjutant-General** Office, ) 

Washington, April 10, 1SG5. ) 

General Orders, No. 7. — Tt is hereby announced to the armies of the 
United States, that on Saturday, the 15th day of April, 1865, by reason 
of the death of Abraham Lincoln, the office of the President of the 
United States devolved upon Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, who. on 
the same day, took the official oath prescribed for the President, and 
entered upon the duties of that office. 

By command of Lieutenant-General Grant. 

W. A. Nichols, Assistant Adjutant- General. 

ORDERS FROM SECRETARY WELLES. 

Navy Department Washington, April IV. Isfi5. 

Sr-EOAL Orders. — Vice- Admiral I). G. Farragut and Rear- Admiral 
William B. Shubrick have been designated to make the necessary arrange 



Proclamation by President Johnson. 791 

ments on the part of the Navy and Marine Corps for attending, on "Wed- 
nesday next, the funeral of the late President of the United States. 

Gideon Wells, Secretary of the Xacy. 

Navy Department, Washington, April 17, 1S05. 
Special Orders. — Officers of the Navy and Marine Corps will assem- 
ble at the Navy Department, in uniform, at 10 o'clock a. m., on Wednes- 
day next, for the purpose of attending the funeral of the late President 
of the United States. 

Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Xary. 

Navy Department, Washington, April 17, 1865. 

Special Order. — By order of the President of the United States, the 
Navy Department will' be closed on Wednesday next, the day of the 
funeral solemnities of the late President of the United States. Labor 
will also be suspended on that day at each of the navy-yards and navy 
stations, and upon all the vessels of the United States. The flags Of all 
vessels and at all navy-yards and stations and marine barracks will bo 
kept at half-mast during the day, and at 12 o'clock, meridian, twenty- 
one minute-guns will be fired by the senior officer of each squadron and 
the commandants of each of the navy-yards and stations. 

Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Xary. 

ORDER FROM SECRETARY m'cULLOCH. 

Treasury Department, Washington, April 18, 1SC5. 

The Secretary of the Treasury, with profound sorrow, announces to 
the revenue marine the death of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the 
United States. He died in this city on the morning of the 15th inst., 
at twenty-two minutes past seven o'clock. The officers of the revenue 
marine will, as a manifestation of their respect for the exalted charac- 
ter and eminent public services of the illustrious dead, and of their 
sense of the calamity the country has sustained by this afflicting dispen- 
sation of Providence, wear crape on the left arm and upon the hilt of 
the sword for six months. It is further directed that funeral honors be 
paid on board all revenue vessels in commission, by firing thirty-six minute- 
guns, commencing at meridian on the day after the receipt of this order, 
and by wearing their flags at half-mast. 

Hcgii McCcLLOcn, Secretary of the Treasury. 

ORDER FROM POSTMASTER-GENERAL DENNISON. 

Post-Okfice Department, Washington, April 17. 

To Deputy Postmasters : 

Business in all the post-offices of the United States will be suspended, 
and the offices closed, from 11 a. m. to 3 P. m. on Wednesday, the 19th 
instant, during the funeral solemnities of Abraham Lincoln, late Presi- 
dent of the United States. 

W. Dennison, Postmaster- General. 

PROCLAMATION BY PRESIDENT JOHNSON OF A DAY OF HUMILIATION 
AND MOURNING. 

WJierea-s, By my direction the acting Secretary of State, in a notice to 
the public, on the 17th of April, requested the various religious denomi- 
nations to assemble on the l'Jth of April, on the occasion of the obsequies 
of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, and to observe 
the same with appropriate ceremonies; and 



792 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Wliereas, Our country has become one great house of mourning', 
where the head of the family haa been taken away, and believing that a 
special period should be assigned for again bumbling ourselves before 
Almighty God, in order that the bereavement may be sanctified to the 
nation : 

Now, therefore, in order to mitigate that grief on earth which can 
only be assuaged by communion with the Father in Heaven, and in com- 
pliance with the wishes of Senators and Representatives in Congress, 
communicated to me by a resolution adopted at the national capital, I, 
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby appoint 
Thursday, the 25th day of May next, to be observed, wherever in tho 
United States the flag of the country may be respected, as a day of 
humiliation and mourning, and recommend my fellow-citizens then to 
assemble in their respective places of worship, there to unite in solemn 
service to AJraighty God in memory of the good man who has been 
removed, so that all shall be occupied at the same time in contemplation 
of his virtues and sorrow for bis sudden and violent end. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set' my hand and caused the seal 
of the United States to be affixed. 

Doue at the City of Washington, the twenty-fifth day of April, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, 
[l.s.] and of the independence of the United States of America the 
eighty-ninth. Andrew Johnson. 

By the President: 

AV. Hunter, Acting Secretary of State. 

SECRETARY STANTON TO MINISTER ADAMS. 

The following is the official report of the death of Mr. Lincoln, Ad- 
dressed to the Legation in London : — 

WAsiiryorox, Apri!T5. 
Sir: — It has become my distressing duty to announce to you that last 
night his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
was assassinated, about the hour of half-past ten o'clock, in his private 
box at Ford's Theatre, in this city. The President, about eight o'clock, 
accompanied Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre. Another lady and gentleman 
were with them in the box. About half-past ten, during a pause in the 
performance, the assassin entered the box, the door of which was un- 
guarded, hastily approached the President from behind, ami discharged a 
pistol at his head. The bullet entered the back of his head, and pene- 
trated nearly through. The assassin then leaped from the box upon the 
stage, brandishing a large knife or dagger, and exclaiming, "Sic semper 
tyrannis /'' and escaped in the re.-ir of the theatre. Immediately upon 
the discharge, the President fell to the fioor insensible, and continued 
in that state until twenty minutes past seven o'clock this morning, when 
be breathed his last. About the same time the murder was being com- 
mitted at tin; theatre, another assassin presented himself at the door of 
Mr. Seward's residence, gained admission by representing he had a pre- 
scription from Mr. Seward's physician, which he was directed to see 
administered, and hurried up to the third-story chamber, where Mr. Sew- 
ard was lying. He here discovered Mr. Frederick Seward, struck him 
over the head, inflicting several wounds, and fracturing his skull in two 
places, inflicting, it is feared, mortal wounds. He then rushed into the 
room where Mr. Seward was in bed, attended by a young daughter and a 
male nurse. The male attendant was stabbed through the lungs, and it 
is believed wiU die. The assassin then struck Mr. Seward with a knife or 



Letter from J. Wilkes Booth. 793 

daggertwice in the throat and twice in the face, indicting terrible wounds. 
By this time Major Seward, eldest son of the Secretary, and another 
attendant reached the room, and rushed to the rescue of the Secretary; 
they were also wounded in the conflict, and the assassin escaped. No 
artery or important blood-vessel was severed by any of the wounds 
inflicted iip^u him, but lie was for a long time insensible from the loss of 
blood. Some hope of his possible recovery is entertained. Immediate- 
ly upon the death of the President, notice was given to Vice-President 
Johnson, who happened to be in the city, and upon whom the office of 
President now devolves. He will take the office and assume the functions 
of President to-day. Tlie murderer of the President has been discovered, 
and evidence obtained that these horrible crimes were committed in 
execution of a conspiracy deliberately planned and set on loot by rebels, 
under pretence of avenging the South and aiding the rebel cause; bul it 
is hoped that the immediate perpetrators will be caught. The feeding 
occasioned by these outrageous crimes is so great, sudden, and overwhelm- 
ing, that I cannot at present do more than communicate them to you. 
At the earliest moment yesterday the President called a Cabinet meeting, 
at which General Grant was present. lie was more cheerful and happy 
than I had ever seen him, rejoiced at the near prospect of firm and dura- 
ble peace at home and abroad, manifested in a marked degree the kind- 
ness and humanity of his disposition, and the tender and forgiving spirit 
that so eminently distinguished him. Public notice had been given that 
be and General Grant would be present at the theatre, and the opportu- 
nity of adding the Lieutenant-General to the number of victims to bo 
murdered was no doubt seized for the fitting occasion of executing the 
plans that appear to have been in preparation for some weeks, but Gen- 
eral Grant was compelled to be absent, and thus escaped the designs 
upon him. It is needless tor me to say any thing in regard of the influ- 
ence which this atrocious murder of the President may exercise upon the 
affairs of this country ; but I will only add that, horrible as are the atroci- 
ties that have been resorted to by the enemies of the country, they are 
not likely in any degree to irapair'the public spirit or postpone the com- 
plete final overthrow of the rebellion. In profound grief for the events 
which it is my duty to communicate to you, I have the honor to be, very 
respectfully, your obedient servant, 



Edwin M. Stanton. 



To Cuakles Francis Adams, London. 



E. 
IMPORTANT LETTER FROM J. WILKES BOOTH. 

HIS ORIGINAL PURPOSE WAS TO TAKE MR. LINCOLN A PRISONER. niS 

REASONS FOR HIS ACTION. 
[From the Philadelphia Press, April 19.] 

We have just received the following letter, written by John "Wilkes 
Booth, and placed by him in the hands of his brother-in-law, J. S. Clarke. 
It was written by him in November last, and left with J. S. Clarke in a 
sealed envelope, and addressed to himself, in bis own handwriting. In 
the same envelope were some United States bonds and oil stocks. This 
letter was opened by -Mr. Clarke for the first time on Monday last, and 
immediately handed by him to Marshall Milward, who has kindly placed 
it in our bands. Most unmistakably it proves that he must for many 



794 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

months have contemplated seizing the person of the late President. It is, 
however, doubtful whether lie imagined the black deed winch has 
plunged the nation into the deepest gloom, and at the same time awa- 
kened it to a just and righteous indignation: — 

, , 1864 

My Dear Sir : — You may use this as you think best. But as some 
may wish to know when, who, and why, and as I do not know how to 
direct it, I give it (in the words of your master): — 

" To whom it may concern.'''' 

Right or wrong, God judge mo, not man. For be my motive good or 
had, of one thing I am sure, the lasting condemnation of the North. 

I love peace more than life. Have loved the Union beyond expression. 
For four years have I waited, hoped, and prayed for the dark clouds to 
break, and for a restoration of our former sunshine. To wait longer 
would be a crime All hope for peace is dead. My prayers have proved 
as idle as my hopes. God's will be done. I go to see and share the bit- 
ter end. 

I have ever held that the South were right. The very nomination of 
Abraham Lincoln, four years ago, spoke plainly war — war Upon Southern 
rights and institutions. His election proved it. " Await an overt act." 
Yes; till you are bound and plundered. What folly! The South were 
wise. Who thinks of argument or patience when the finger of his enemy 
presses on the trigger? In a foreign war, I, too, could say, ''Country, 
right or wrong." But in a struggle such as ours (where the brother tries 
to pierce the brother's heart), for God's sake choose the right. Whec a 
country like this spurns justice from her side, she forfeits the allegiance 
of every honest freeman, and should leave him, untrammelled by any 
fealty soever, to act as his conscience may approve. 

People of the North, to hate tyranny, to love liberty and justice, to 
strike at wrong and oppression, was the teaching of our fathers. The 
study of our early history will not let me forget it, and may it never. 

This country was formed for the white, not for the black man. And, 
looking upon African slavery from the same stand-point held by the noble 
framers of our Constitution, I, for one, have ever considered it one of the 
greatest blessings (both for themselves and us) that God ever bestowed 
upon a favored nation. Witness heretofore our wealth and power; wit- 
ness their elevation and enlightenment above their race elsewhere. I 
have lived among it most of my life, and have seen less harsh treatment 
from master to man than I have beheld in the North from father to son. 
Yet, Heaven knows, no one would be more willing to do more for the 
negro race than I, could I but see a way to still better their condition. 

But Lincoln's policy is only preparing the way for their total annihila- 
tion. The South are not, nor hare they been, fighting for the continuance 
of slavery. The first battle of Bull Run did away with that idea. Their 
causes since for war have been as noble and greater far than those that 
urged our fathers on. Been shonld we allow they were wrong at the 
beginning of this contest, cruelty and injustice have made the wrong be- 
come the right, and they stand now (before the wonder and admiration 
of the world) as a noble hand of patriotic heroes. Hereafter, reading of 
their deeds, Thermopylae will be forgotten. 

When I aided in the capture and execution of John Brown (who was a 
murderer on our western border, and who was fairly tried and convicted, 
before an impartial judge and jury, of treason, and who, by-the-way, has 
since been made a god), I was proud of my little share in the transaction, 
for 1 deemed it my duty, and that I was helping our common country to 



Letter from J. Wilkes Booth. 795 

perform an act of justice. "But what was a crime in poor John Brown is 
now consideied (by themselves) as the greatest and only virtue of the 
whole Republican party. Strange transmigration! Vice to become a 
virtue simply because more indulge in it ! 

I thought then, as now, that the abolitionists were the only traitors in 
the laud, and that the entire party deserved the same fate as poor old 
Brown; nol because they wish to abolish slavery, but on account of the 
means they have, ever endeavored to use to effect that abolition. If 
Brown were living, I doubt whether he himself would set slavery against 
the Union. Most, or many in the North do, and openly, curse the union 
if the South are to return and retain a single right guaranteed to them by 
every tie which we once revered as sacred. The South can make no 
choice. It is either extermination or slavery for themselves (worse than 
death) to draw from. I know my choice. 

I have also studied hard W> discover upon what grounds the right of a 
State to secede has been denied, when our very name, United States, 
and the Declaration of Independence, both provide for secession. But 
there is no time for words. I write in haste. I know how foolish I shall 
be deemed for undertaking such a step as this, where, on the one side, I 
have many friends and every thing to make me happy, where my profes- 
sion alone lias gained me an income of more than twenty thousand dollars 
a year, and where my great personal ambition in my profession has such 
a great Held for labor. On the other hand, the South has never bestowed 
upon me one kind word; a place now where I have no friends, except 
beneath the sod; a place where I must either become a private soldier 
or a beggar. To give up all of the former for the latter, besides my 
mother and sisters, whom I love so dearly (although they so widely differ 
with me in opinion), seems insane; hut God is my judge. I love justice 
more than I do a country that disowns it; more than fame and wealth; 
more (Heaven pardon me if wrong), more than a happy home. I have 
never been upon a battle-field; but oh! my countrymen, could you all 
but see the reality or effects of this horrid war as I have seen them (in 
every State, save Virginia), I know you would think like me, and would 
pray the Almighty to create in the Northern mind a sense of right and 
justice (even should it possess no seasoning of mercy), and that he would 
dry up this sea of blood between us, which is daily growing wider. 
Alas! poor country, is she to meet her threatened doom? Four years 
ago I would have given a thousand lives to see her remain (as I had 
always known her) powerful and unbroken. And even now I would 
hold my life as naught to see her what she was. Oh ! my friends, if the 
fearful scenes of the past four years had never been enacted, or if what 
has been had been hut a frightful dream, from which we could now 
awake, with what overflowing hearts could we bless our God and pray 
for his continued favor! How I have loved the old flay can never now be 
known. A few years since, and the entire world could boast of none so 
pnre and spotless. But I have of late been seeing and hearing of the 
bloody deeds of which she has been made the emblem, and would shudder 
to think how changed she had grown. Oh! how i have longed to see 
her break from the mist of blood and death that circles round her folds, 
spoiling her beauty and tarnishing her honor. But no, day by day has shy 
been dragged deeper and deeper into cruelty and oppression, till now (in 
my eyes) her once bright red. stripes look like bloody gashes on the face 
of heaven. I look now upon my early admiration of her glories as a 
dream. My love (as things stand to-day) is for the South a' one. Nor do 
I deem it. a dishonor in attempting to make for her a prisoner of this 
man, to whom she owes so much of misery. If success attend me, I go 



796 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

penniless toiler side. They say she has found that " last ditch " which 
the North have so long derided and been endeavoring to force her 
in, forgetting they are our brothers, and that it is impolitic to goad an 
enemy to madness. Should I reach her in safety, and find it true, I will 
proudly beg permission to triumph or die in that same ''ditch" by her 
eide. 

A Confederate doing duty upon his own r extensibility. 

J. Wilkes Booth. 



1 F. 

INDICTMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 

CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS. 

• 

The following is a copy of the charge and specification against David E. 
Harold, George A. Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, Michael O'Laughlin, John II. 
Surratt, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary £. Surratt, and Samuel 
Mudd :— 

Charge 1st. — For maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously, and in aid 
of the existing armed rebellion against the United States of America, on 
or before the 6th- day of March, a. D. 18(35, and on divers other days be- 
tween that day and the 15th day of April, 18(15, combining, confederating, 
and conspiring together with one John II. Surratt, John Wilkes Booth, 
Jefferson I>avis, George N. Saunders, Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, 
William 0. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, George Harper, George Young, and 
others unknown, to kill and murder within the Military Department of 
"Washington, and within the fortified and intrenched lines thereof, Abraham 
Lincoln, and at the time of said combining, confederating, and conspiring, 
President ol the United States of America and Commander-in-Chief of 
the Army and Navy thereof ; Andrew Johnson, now Vice-President of the 
United States as aforesaid; William II. Seward, Secretary of State of the 
United States aforesaid, and Ulysses S. Grant, Lientenant-General of the 
Army of the United States aforesaid, then in command of the armies of 
the United States, under the direction of the said Abraham Lincoln, and 
in pursuance of, and in prosecuting said malicious, unlawful, and traitor- 
ous conspiracy aforesaid, and in aid of said rebellion, afterwards, to wit: 
On the 14th day of April, 18G5, within the military department of Wash- 
ington aforesaid, and within the fortified and intrenched lines of said 
military department, together with said John Wilkes Booth and John II. 
Surratt, maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously murdering the said 
Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States, and Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, as aforesaid, and 
maliciously, unlawfully, and traitorously assaulting, with intent to kill 
and murder the said William II. Seward, then Secretary of State of the 
United States as aforesaid, and lying in wait with intent, maliciously, un- 
lawfully, and traitorously, to kill and murder the said Andrew Johnson, 
then being Vice-President of the United States, and the said Ulysses S. 
Grant, then being Lieutenant-General and in command of the armies 
of the United States aforesaid. 

Specification \st. — In this that they, the said David E. Harold, Edward 
Spangler, Lewis Payne, John II. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, Samuel 
Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, George A. Atzerodt, and Samuel A. Mudd, in- 
cited and encouraged thereunto by Jefferson Davis, George N. Saunders, 
Beverly Tucker, Jacob Thompson, William C. Cleary, Clement C. Clay, 
George Harper, George Young, and others unknown, citizens of the 
United States aforesaid, and who were then engaged in armed rebellion 



Indictment of the Conspirators. 797 

against the United States of America, within the limits w.oreof, did, in 
aid of said armed rebellion, on or before the Oth day of March, a. r>. 1805, 
and on divers other days and times between that day and the 15th day 
of April, a. d. 1805, combine, con federate, and conspire together, at 
Washington City, within the military department of Washington, and 
within the intrenched fortifications and military lines of the said United 
States, there being, unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously, to kill and 
murder Abraham Lincoln, then President of the United States aforesaid, 
and Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, and unlawfully, 
maliciously, and traitorously, to kill and murder Andrew Johnson, now 
Vice-President of the said United States, upon whom, on the death of the 
said Abraham Lincoln, after the 4th day of March, a. i>. 1805, the office 
of President of the said United States, and the Commander-in-Chief of 
the army and navy thereof, would devolve, and to unlawfully, maliciously, 
and traitorously kill and murder Ulysses S. Grant, then lieutenant-gen- 
eral, and under the direction of the said Abraham Lincoln, in command 
of the armies of the United States aforesaid, and unlawfully, maliciously, 
and traitorously to kill and murder William II. Seward, then Secretary 
of State of the United States aforesaid, whose duty it was by law, upon 
the death of said President and Vice-President of the United States afore- 
said, to cause an election to be held for electors of President of the United 
States; the conspirators aforesaid designing and intending by the killing 
and murder of the said Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. 
Grant, and William II. Seward as aforesaid, to deprive the army and navy 
of the said United States of a constitutional commander-in-chief, and to 
deprive the armies of the United States of their lawful commander, and 
to prevent a lawful election of President and Vice-President of the United 
States, aforesaid; and by the means aforesaid to aid and comfort the in- 
surgents engaged in armed rebellion against the said United States as 
aforesaid, and thereby aid in the subversion and overthrow of the Con- 
stitution and the laws of the United States ; and being so combined, con- 
federated, and conspiring together in the prosecution of said unlawful and 
traitorous conspiracy on the night of the 14th day of April, a. i>. 1865 ( at 
the hour of about ten o'clock and fifteen minutes p. m., at Ford's Theatre, 
on Tenth Street, in the City of Washington, and within the military de- 
partment and military lines aforesaid, John Wilkes Booth, one of the 
conspirators aforesaid, in pursuance of said unlawful and traitorous con- 
spiracy, did then and there, unlawfully, maliciously, and traitorously, and 
with intent to kill and murder the said Abraham Lincoln, discharge a 
pistol then held in the hands of him the said Booth, the same being then 
loaded with powder and leaden ball, against and upon the left and poste- 
rior side of the head of the said Abraham Lincoln, and did thereby then 
and ther^ inflict upon him, the said Abraham Lincoln, then President of the 
said Ur.ited States, and Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy there- 
of, a mortal wound, whereof afterwards, to wit: on the loth day of April, 
A.i). 1865, at Washington City aforesaid, the said Abraham Lincoln died, 
and thereby then and there, and in pursuance of said conspiracy the said 
defendants and the said John Wilkes Bootb did unlawfully, traitorously, 
and maliciously, with the intent to aid the rebellion, as aforesaid, kill and 
murder the said Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, as 
aforesaid, and in further prosecution of the unlawful and traitorous con- 
spiracy aforesaid, and of the murderous and traitorous intent of said con- 
spiracy, the said Edward Spangler, on the said 1-lth day of April, A. D. 
1805, at about the same hour of that day, as aforesaid, within said mili- 
tary department and the military lines aforesaid, did aid and assist the 
&aid John Wilkes Booth to obtain an entrance to the box in the said 



798 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

theatre in which the said Abraham Lincoh. was sitting at the time lie 
was assaulted and shot as aforesaid by John Wilkes Booth; and also did 
then and there aid said Booth in barring and obstructing the door of the 
box of said theatre so as to hinder and prevent any assistance to or rescue 
of the said Abraham Lincoln, against the mu-derous assault of the said 
John Wilkes Booth, and did aid and abet him in making his escape after 
the said Abraham Lincoln had been murdered in the manner aforesaid: 
and in further prosecution of said unlawful, murderous, and traitorous 
conspiracy, and in pursuance thereof, and with the intent as aforesaid, 
the said David E. Harold did, on the 14th of April, a. d. 1865, within the 
military department and military lines aforesaid, aid and abet, and assist 
the said John Wilkes Booth in the killing and murder of the said Abraham 
Lincoln, and did then and there aid and abet and assist him, the said 
John Wilkes Booth, in attempting him to escape through the military 
lines aforesaid, and did accompany and assist the said John Wilkes Booth 
in attempting to conceal himself and escape from justice after killing and 
murdering the said Abraham Lincoln aforesaid; and in further prosecu- 
tion of said unlawful and traitorous conspiracy, and of the intent-thereof 
as aforesaid, the said Lewis Payne did on the same night of the 14th day 
of April, 1865, about the same hour of ten o'clock, fifteen minutes p. m., 
at the City of Washington, and within the military department and the 
military lines aforesaid, unlawfully and maliciously make an assault upon 
the said William H. Seward, Secretary of Stat" as aforesaid, in the dwell- 
ing-house and bed-chamber of him, the said William II. Seward, and the 
said Payne did then and there, with a large knife held in his hand, unlaw- 
fully, traitorously, and in pursuance of said conspiracy, strike, stab, cut, 
and attempt to kill and murder the said William II. Seward, and did there- 
by then and there and with the intent aforesaid, with said knife, inflict 
upon the face and throat of said William II. Seward divers grievous 
wounds; and said Lewis Payne, in further prosecution of said conspiracy, 
at the same time and place last aforesaid, did attempt, with the knife 
aforesaid, and a pistol, held in his hand, to kill and murder Frederick 
W. Seward, Augustus H. Seward, Emrick W. Hansel, and George F. Rob- 
inson, who were then striving to protect and rescue the said William H. 
Seward from being murdered by the said Lewis Payne, and did then and 
there, with the said knife and pistols held in his hands, inflict upon the 
head of said Frederick W. Seward, and upon the persons of said Augustas 
II. Seward, Emrick W. Hansel, and George F. Robinson, divers grievous 
and dangerous wounds, with intent then and there to kill and murder the 
said Frederick W. Seward, Augustus H. Seward, Emrick W. Hansel, and 
George F. Robinson. 

And in further prosecution of said conspiracy, and its traitorous and 
murderous designs, the said George A. Atzerodt did, on the night of the 
14th of April, a. d. 18G5, and about the same hour aforesaid, within the 
military department and the military lines aforesaid, lie in wait for An- 
drew Johnson, then Vice-President of the United States, aforesaid, with 
the intent unlawfully and maliciously to kill and murder him, the said 
Andrew Johnson. 

And in the further prosecution of the conspiracy aforesaid, and of its 
murderous and treasonable purpose aforesaid, on the nights of the 13th 
and 14th of April, a. d. 1SG5, at Washington City, and within the military 
department and military lines aforesaid, the said Michael O'Laughlin did 
then and there lie in wait for Ulysses S. Grant, then Lieutenant-General 
and Commander of the armies of the United States as aforesaid, with in 
tent then and there to kill and murder the said Ulysses S. Grant. 

And in the farther prosecution of said conspiracy, the said Samuel Ar- 



The Finding of the Court. 799 

nold did, within the military department and military linos aforesaid, on 
or before the 6th day of March, a. d. 1865, and on divers other days and 
times between that day and the loth clay of April, A..D. 1865, combine, 
conspire with, and aid, counsel, abet, comfort, and snpport the said John 
Wilkes Booth, Lewis Payne, George A. Atzerodt, Michael O'Laughlin, 
and their confederates in said unlawful, murderous, and traitorous con- 
spiracy, and in the execution thereof as aforesaid. 

And, in further prosecution of the said conspiracy, Mary E. Surratt did 
at Washington City, and within the military department, and the military 
lines aforesaid, on or before the 6th day of March, a. d. 1865, and on di- 
vers other days and times between that day and the 20th of April, a. d. 
1865, receive, entertain, harbor and conceal, aid and assist the said John 
Wilkes Booth, David E. Harold, Lewis Payne, John II. Surratt, Michael 
O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerodt, Samuel Arnold, and their confederates, 
with knowledge of the murderous and traitorous conspiracy aforesaid, 
and with intent to aid, abet, and assist them in the execution thereof, 
and in escaping from justice after the murder of the said Abraham Lin- 
coln, as aforesaid; and in further prosecution of said conspiracy, the said 
Samuel A. Mudd did, at Washington City, and within the military de- 
partment and military lines aforesaid, on or before the 6th dey of March, 
a. d. lSii.j. and on divers other days and times between that day and the 
20th day of April, a. n. 1805, advise, encourage, receive, entertain, harbor, 
and conceal, aid, and assist the said John Wilkes Booth, David E. Harold, 
Lewis Payne. John II. Surratt, Michael O'Laughlin, George A. Atzerodt, 
Mary E. Surratt, and Samuel Arnold, and their confederates, with knowl- 
edge of the murderous and traitorous conspiracy aforesaid, and with in- 
tent to aid, abet, and assist them in the execution thereof, and in escaping 
from justice after the murder of the said Abraham Lincoln, in pursuance 
of said conspiracy in manner aforesaid. 

By order of the President of the United States. 

J. Holt, Judge- Advocate- General. 



THE FINDING OF THE COURT. 

Wae Department, Ap.tutant-Of.xf.p.ai.'s Office. |^ 
Washington, July 5, laC5. J 

To Major-General W. S. Hancock, U. S. Volunteers, commanding Middle 
Military Division, Washington D. C. : 

Whereas, By the Military Commission appointed in paragraph 4, Special 
Orders 211, dated War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, May 6, 
1865, and of which Major-General I 'avid Hunter, United States Volun- 
teers, is President, the following persons were tried and sentenced as 
hereinafter stated, as follows: — 

First.— -David E. Harold. 

Finding. — Of the specification "Guilty," except combining, confedera- 
ting, and conspiring with Edward Spangler, as to which part thereof " Not 
Guilty." Of the charge " Guilty," except the words of the charge that 
"he combined, confederated, and conspired with Edward Spangler," as 
to which part of the charge "Not Guilty." 

& htence. — And the Commission therefore sentence him, the said David 
E. Harold, to be hanged by the neck until he is dead, at such time and 
place as the President of the United States shall direct, two-thirds of the 
members of the Commission concurring therein. 

Second. — George A. Atzerodt. 

Finding. — Of the specification "Guilty," except combining, confeder- 
ating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler. Of this " Not Guilty." 



800 The Life of Abraham Lincoln. 

Sentence. — And the Commission does therefore sentence him, the said 
George A. Atzerodt, to be hanged by the neck until he is dead, at such 
time and place as the President of the United States shall direct, two- 
thirds of the members of the Commission concurring therein. 

Third. — Lewis Payne. 

Finding. — Of the specification " Guilty," except combining, confedera- 
ting, and conspiring with Edward Spangler. Of this not guilty. Of the 
charge " Not Guilty," except combining, confederating, and conspiring 
with Edward Spangler. Of this not guilty. 

Sentence. — And the Commission does, therefore, sentence him, the said 
Lewis Payne, to be hanged by the neck until he be dead, at such time 
and place as the President of the United States shall direct ; two-thirds 
of the members of the Commission concurring therein. 

Fourth. — Mary E. Surratt. 

Finding. — Of the specification " Guilty," except as to the receiving, 
entertaining, harboring, and concealing Samuel Arnold and Michael 
O'Laughlin, and, except as to combining, confederating, and conspiring 
with Edward Spangler. Of this not guilty. Of the charge " Guilty," ex- 
cept as to combining, confederating, aud conspiring with Edward Span- 
gler. Of this not guilty. 

Sentence. — And the Commission does therefore sentence her, the said 
Mary E. Surratt, to be hanged by the neck until she be dead, at sm-li time 
and place as the President of the United States shall direct, two-thirds of 
the members of the Commission concurring therein ; and 

Whereas, The President of the United States lias approved the forego- 
iug sentences in the following order, to wit : — 

Executive Mansion, July 5, 1S65. 

The foregoing sentences in the cases of David E. Harold, George E. 
Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt, are hereby approved; and 
it is ordered that the sentences in the cases of David E. Harold, G. A. 
Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary E. Surratt, be carried into execution 
by the proper military authority, under the direction of the Secretary of 
War, on the 7th day of July, 1865, between the hours of 10 o'clock a. m. 
and 2 o'clock p. m. of that day. 

Andrew Johnson, President. 

Therefore, You are hereby commanded to cause the foregoing sentences 
in the cases of David E. Harold, G. A. Atzerodt, Lewis Payne, and Mary 
E. Surratt, to be duly execute* 1 ir accordance with the President's order. 

By command of the President of the United States. 

E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant- General. 

In the remaining cases of O'Laughlin, Spangler, Arnold, and Mudd, the 
findings and sentences are as follows : — 

Fifth.— Michael O'Laughlin. 

Finding. — Of the specification "Guilty," except the words thereof aa 
follows: "And in the further prosecution of the conspiracy aforesaid, 
and its murderous and treasonable purposes aforesaid, on the nights of 
the 13th and 14th of April, a. d. 1865, at Washington City, and within 
the military department and military lines aforesaid, the said Michael 
O'Laughlin did then and there lie in wait for Ulysses S. Grant, then Lieu- 
tenant-General and Commander of the Armies of the United States, with 
intent then and there to kill and murder the said Ulysses S. Grant." Of 
eaid words, "Not Guilty," and except " combining, confederating, and 



The Finding -of the Court. 801 

conspiring with Edward Spangler." Of this not guilty. Of the charge 
"Guilty," except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward 
Spangler. Of this not guilty. 

Sentence. — The Commission sentence Michael O'Langhlin to he impris- 
oned at hard labor for life. 

Sixth. — Edward Spangler. 

Finding. — < >f the specification, " "Not Guilty," except as to the words, 
"the said Edward Spangler, on said 14th day of April, a. i>. 1805, at 
about the same hour of that day as aforesaid, within said military depart- 
ment and the military lines aforesaid, did aid and abet him," meaning 
John Wilkes Booth, "in making his escape, after the said Abraham Lin- 
coln had been murdered in the manner aforesaid," and of these words, 
"Guilty." Of the charge, not guilty, but guilty of having feloniously 
and traitorously aided and abetted John Wilkes Booth in making his es- 
cape after having killed and murdered Abraham Lincoln, President of tno 
United States—he, the said Edward Spangler, at the time of aiding and 
abetting as aforesaid, well knowing that the said Abraham Lincoln, Pres- 
ident as aforesaid, had been murdered by the said John Wilkes Booth as 
aforesaid. 

The Commission sentenced Spangler to be confined at hard labor for 
six years. 

Seventh. — Samuel Arnold. Of the specifications — 

Guilty — Except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward 
Spangler; of this, not guilty. 

Of the charge — 

Guilty — Except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward 
Spangler; of this, not guilty. 

The Commission sentence him to imprisonment at hard labor for life. 

Eighth. — Samuel A. Mudd. Of the specification — 

Guilty — Except combining, confederating, and conspiring with Edward 
Spangler; of this not guilty ; and excepting receiving and entertaining, 
and harboring and concealing said Lewis Payne, John H. Surratt, Mi- 
chael O'Langhlin, George A. Atzerodt, Mary E. Surratt, and Samuel 
Arnold; of this, not guilty. Of the charge " Guilty," except combining, 
confederating, and conspiring with Edward Spangler; of this, not guilty. 

Sentence. — The Commission sentenced Dr. Mudd to be imprisoned at 
hard labor for life. 

The President's order in these cases is as follows: — 

It is further ordered that the prisoners, Samuel Arnold, Samuel A. 
Mudd, Edward Spangler, and Michael O'Langhlin, be confined at hard la- 
bor in the penitentiary at Albany, New York, during the period desig- 
nated in their respective sentences. 

Andrew Jonxsox, President. 

The sentences were (Inly executed, except the Dry Tortugas was substituted for the Albany 
Penitentiary, for the imprisonment of Arnold, Mudd, Spangler, and O'Langhlin. 
51 



Index. 



803 



INDEX 



Adams, C. F. — remonstrance asamst depart- 
ure of rebel cruisers from British ports, 4 < ; 1 . 
Address of Mr. Lincoln— at Springfield, 181 ; 
at Toloiio, 132; at Indianapolis, 182 ; before 
Indiana Legislature, 1SS; at Cincinnati, 134; 
at. Columbus, 135; at Steubenville, 136; at 
Pittsburg, 136, 137; at Cleveland, 140; at 
Buffalo, 141; at Rochester, 142: at Uttca, 
143; at. Albany, 143; at Troy, 145; at Hud- 
son, 146; at Poughkeepsic, 140; at Peeks- 
kill, 117; at Astor House, N. T., US; to 
Republican Association, 14$; at City Hall, 
150; at Jersey City, 150; at Newark, 151; 
at Trenton, 151; at Philadelphia, 153; at 
Independence Hall, 154; at Lancaster, 156 ; 
at Harrisburg, 15(1; at Washington, 158, 159; 
inaugural, 102 ; to members of Congress from 
Border States, 235; to Chicago committee 
on emancipation of slaves, 254; at Wash- 
ington about McCIellan, 324; at serenade, 
September 24, 1862,342; at Gettysburg, 412; 
at Washington, July 5, 1SG3, 415; to working- 
men of New York, 49$; at fair in Washing- 
ton, 501 ; at fair in Baltimore, 501 ; at fair in 
Philadelphia, 503; to deputation of colored 
persons, 505; to the country, 520; at Wash- 
ington, 520; at Washington, 539; in re- 
sponse to nomination for re-election, 559, 
500; to Ohio regiments, 000, 007 ; at Wash- 
ington, 609; upon result of election, 613, 
G14,G15; at Washington. 017, G1S, 620; to 
envoy of Hawaiian Islands, 023 ; at Wash- 
ington, 643; on adoption of Constitutional 
amendments, 040; second inaugural, 070; 
concerning the rebel conscription of negroes, 
074 ; ou victory and reconstruction, 0>4. 
Alabama sunk, 535. 

Anecdotes and reminiscences of President 
Lincoln, 725; his sadness, 726-72S; his fa- 
vorite poem, 72S-730; his religions expe- 
rience, 780-735 ; his sympathy, 785-748 : his 
fiuinor, shrewdness, and sentiment. 748-759; 
the Emancipation Proclamation, 759-766. 
Appendix — letters on sundry occasions, 767; 
tne President and General McCIellan, 772; 
Warnings against assassination, 779; reports, 
dispatches, and proclamations relating to the 

assassination. 783; important letter from . I. 
Wilkes Booth, 793 ; trial of conspirators, 790. 



Arbitary arrests — action of Government, 361 ; 
debate in Congress, 373. 

Arguellcs surrendered to Cuban authorities, 
505. 

Arkansas — President's letter to Gen. Steele, 
491; Presidents letter aboul Convention, 
492; election and adoption of a Free State 
Constitution, 493, 511. 

Assassination of Mr. Lincoln, 097: thej seen* 
of death, 69S, 7S5; grief throughout the 
land, 701; warnings against assassination, 
779; reports, Ac, relating to, 7S8; letter 
from Booth, 793; trial and sentence of con- 
spirators, 790. 

Assault on Mr. Seward, 099. 

Atlanta captured, 544. 



Banks — takes Port Iludson, 415; proclama- 
tion for an election in Louisiana, 488; lied 
River expedition. 510. 

Battle of Hull Run, 1861, 202; of Williams- 
burg, 276; of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, 
285; of Gaines' Mills, 293; Malvern Bill, 
294; Antietam. 317; Pittsburgh Landing, 
327; Fredericksburg, 407 ; Chancellorsville, 
408; Gettysburg, 409 ; Vicksbnrg, 414; lul- 
lahoma, 419; Chickamauga, 419; Chattanoo- 
ga. 420; Olustee, 614 ; Sabine Cross- Roads, 
516; Fort Pillow, 519; the Wilderness. 524: 
Spottsylvania, 528 ; Coal Harbor,529; Nash- 
ville, 640; Fort Fisher, 642; Richmond, 678. 

Blair, F. P., Jr., reappointment as Major-Gen- 
eral, 472. 

Blair, F. P.. Pen., visit to Richmond, 64a 

Booth, J. Wilkes — assassinates the President, 
690; death of, 718,788; letter of. 798. 

Border States — reply of the members to Presi- 
dent's address, 230; lion. Mr. Maynx-d'g 
reply, 'J ia 

Brazil, relations wit'n, 622. 

Buchanan — official action on Secession. Ill; 
last message, 117 ; dissolution of his Cabinet, 
117; message on Secession, lia 

Burn side, Gen. — succeeds McCIellan in Army 
of Potomac, 828; battle of Fredericksburg, 
407; arrests Vallandiirham, 3^4; relieved 
from command, 407; defence of Knoxville, 
420. 



804 



Index. 



Butler, Gen. — seizes City Point, 527; expedi- 
tion to Fort Fisher, 640; removal from com- 
mand, 642. 



Cabinet — dissolution of Buchanan's, 117; or- 
ganization of Lincoln's, 170; resignation of 
Secretary Cameron, 243. 

Cameron — resignation of, as Secretary of War, 
248; President's message concerning, 24S. 

Chamoersburg burned, 541. 

Charleston, evacuation of, COS. 

Chase, S. P., appointed Chief Justice, 624. 

Christian Commission, letter from President 
to. 500. 

City Point occupied by Gen. Butler, 527. 

Colfax, elected Speaker of House of Repre- 
sentatives, 445. 

Colonization — President's views on, 229 ; Presi- 
dent's interview with colored men on, 505; 
attempts to colonize New Grenada, 50S; 
colony to He a Yache, 503. 

Commissioners from rebels, 170. 

Compromise — Crittenden's, 119; special com- 
mittee of Congress on, 120 ; report of resolu- 
tions by committee, 121 ; adoption of the 
resolutions. 122. 

Confederacy — organization of the Rebel Gov- 
ernment, 112; objects of the Confederacy 
Stated by Mr. Stephens, 115. 

Conference at Hampton Roads, 64S ; rebel re- 
port of, 051; correspondence in relation 
thereto, 653 ; remarks on, 601. 

Confiscation Bill, 200; debate in Congress on, 
201,240; its provisions, 243 ; supplementary 
resolution, 244; message approving. 245. 

Congress — appoints committee on Compro- 
mise, 120; adoption of Compromise resolu- 
tion, 121 ; action on amendment of Constitu- 
tion. 122; action on Crittenden resolution 
and Peace Conference, 123; meeting in extra 
session, July 4, 1S61, ISO; adoption of reso- 
lution on the objects of the war, 200; bills on 
confiscation — employment of slaves, 200; 
meeting in December, 1S61, 212: resolution 
on slavery, 231 ; effect of Bull Run defeat on 
legislative action of, 226; abolishes slavery 
in Territories, 228; abolishes slavery in Dis- 
trict of Columbia, 228; approves compen- 
sated emancipation, 231 ; debate on Confisca- 
tion Bill, 240; the Currency Bill, 239; meet- 
ing, December, 1862,344; debate on arbitrary 
arrests, 361 ; authorizes letters of marque, 
371 ; admission of members from Louiskma, 
870; meeting, December, 1803. 445; action in 
reference to French in Mexico, 467 ; debates 
of, 1S63, 468; action on slavery, 469; repeals 
Fugitive Slave Law, 470; action in regard to 
senators and representatives from Arkansas, 
493; adoption of bill for reconstruction of 
States, 494; meeting, December, 1864, 620; 
action upon Reciprocity Treat} - , 044; rebel 



States not entitled to representation in elec- 
toral college, 644, 664 ; passage of constitu- 
tional amendment prohibiting slavery, 645; 
establishes Freedmen's Bureau, 645 ; declara- 
tion in regard to rebel debt, 665; authorizes 
a loan of $600,000,000, 666. 

Constitution— amendment forbidding interfer- 
ence with slavery, 121; amendment abolish- 
ing slavery, 469. 

Correspondence in regard to peace, 571. 

Crittenden Compromise, 119; resolution de- 
claring the objects of War, 200. 

Curtis, Gen. — appointed to command in Mis- 
souri, 428 ; his removal, 428. 



Dayton, Mr., interviews, <fec. with French Min- 
ister in regard to Mexico, 464. 

Democratic Party — its position at time of elec- 
tion. ls60, 108; defeat in 1863, 443; position 
in 1864, 591 ; nominates McClellan, 593. 

Douglas — on Missouri Compromise, 43; speech 
at Springfield, 44, 46; on Lecomptou Bill, 50; 
elected senator, 70. 

Dred Scott decision, 47, 49, 64. 



Election of President, 1861, 107; State elections 
of 1862, State elections of 1863, 443 ; election 
of President, 1864, 612, 004. 

Emancipation — President's reply to Chicago 
committee on, 254 ; Proclamation of Septenv 
ber, 1862,257; incidents connected with, 759; 
Proclamation of January, 1863, 260; in Mis- 
souri, 511 ; amendment of Constitution, 645. 

England — instructions to our Minister at out- 
break of the rebellion, 1S2; protest against 
her recognition of the rebels as belligerents, 
183; the Trent affair, 209; privateers, 333; 
stoppage of rebel rams. 462. 

Everett, Edward, death of, 642. 



Facsimile of letter, 5S9. 

Farragut, Com. enters Mobile harbor, 543. 

Florida, expedition of General Gillmore, 513 
defeat at Olustee, 514. 

Forged proclamation, 566. 

Fort Fisher captured, 610. 

Fort Pillow, capture of, 519. 

France — offer of mediation, 335; reply of Mr, 
Seward, 335; our relations with, 463. 

Freedmen— proposition to colonize, 504; un- 
successful efforts to plant colonies in New 
Grenada and He a Vache, 503 ; enlistment of, 
into the army, 510; at Presidential recep- 
tion, 637 ; bureau established lor, 605. 

Fremont — appointed to Department of tbo 
West, order of emancipation, 207 ; Presidents 
revocation of order, 20S; removal from com- 
mand of Western Department, 4'J4 : agree- 
ment with Price, 424; popular demonstra- 



Index. 



805 



tians in favor of, 425; asks to be relieved, 
302; nominated for President, 551; with- 
drawal from canvass, 595. 

Fugitive Slave Bill repealed, 470. 

Funeral services at Executive Mansion, 708. 



Grant. Gen. — siege and capture of '\ ieksburg, 
413; appointment as Lieutenant -General, 
470; letter to President, 523;fcoves forward 
the Army of the Potomac, 524; fights the 
buttles of the Wilderness, 524; dispatch of, 
52S ; crosses the James River and besieges 
Petersburg and Richmond, 530, 541, 040, 000, 
C77 ; final assault. GTS ; receives the capitula- 
tion of Lee, 663, 684. 

Greeley — President Lincoln's letter to, 253; 
correspondence of, in reference to alleged 
peace commissioners, 571. 

Gettysburg— battle (if, 409 ; President's procla- 
mation oi victory, 411 ; dedication of Ceme- 
tery, 412. 



Habeas Corpus — first instance of suspension, 
375; action of the Government, 373; procla- 
mation suspending, 331 ; proclamation on 
subject, 398. 

Hahn, M. — elected Governor of Louisiana, 4S9; 
invested with powers of, 489. 

JJalleek, Gen.— letter to McClellan on the ne- 
cessity of aiding Pope, 299; letter about his 
leaving the Peninsula, 299 ; orders McClellan 
to advance after Antietam, 318 ; letter about 
fugitive slaves. 330. 

Hampton Loads, conference at, G4S. 

Harris, B. G.. censured by House of Repre- 
sentatives, 472. 

looker, Gen. — succeeds General Burnside in 
Army of Potomac, 408; is relieved from com- 
mand, 403. 

Hunter, Gen. — his order abolishing slavery in 
South Carolina, 233; Lincoln's letter to, in 
Missouri, 424; wins a victory at Piedmont, 
530. 

House of Representatives censures Alexander 
Long and L. C>. Harris, 472. 



Invasion — proposed rebel invasion of the 
North, 177; invasion of Pennsylvania by 
General Lee, 409. 



Johnson, Andrew — Provisional Governor of 
Tennessee, 4S8 ; proclamation regulating 
election, 596, .'.'.'7: elected Vice-President, 

664 ; takes oath of office and becomes Presi- 
dent, 714. 



Kilpatrick — raid to Richmond, 515. 



Knoxville, siege of, raised, 420. 



Letter of the President — to Governor Hicks, 
oi Maryland, 174; to commissioners from 
Virginia, 17'.'; to General Fremont, revoking 
his order, 203; to II. Greeley, 253; to Mc- 
Clellan concerning an advance on Richmond, 
266; to McClellan about retaining Blenker 
271 ; to McClellan about str. ngth of his army 
273; to McClellon about McDowell, 2S0; tc 
McClellan about withholding McDowell, 2S1 . 
to McClellan about Jackson, 281 : t" Met'Ku- 
hui about Hanover Junction, 2S3 ; in reply 
to McClellan, 290; about re-enforcements 
after seven days' battles. 298, 294, 'Jit.') ; on 
the strength of McClcllati s army. 297; t» 

McClellan after Antietam, 319 ; to Mel 

about horses. 321; to Fernando Wood, 841; 
to committee of Albany meeting, 8S0; com- 
mittee of Ohio Convention, 894 ; to Gover- 
nor Symour on the draft. 408 : 6( cond letter 
on the same subject, 405; dispatches to Chi- 
OOZO, 406; letter of thanks to General Grant, 
410; to General Hunter on taking command 
in Missouri, 424; to General Scholield, 4.-<; 
to committee from Missouri, 182; on church 
quarrels in Missouri, 43s; to Union conven- 
tion in Illinois, 440 ; on payment of bounties, 
47* ; to House of Representatives on General 
Blair, 473; on aiding people of East Tenni s- 
see, 475: to editor of N. A. Review, 4s2; to 
C. Bullitt, Louisiana. 4M ; to Governor S hep- 
ley, on electing members of Congress in 
Louisiana, 4S0; to committee of planters, 
Louisiana, 4S7 ; to M. Hahn, Louisiana, 4S9 ; 
to General Banks, Louisiana, 490; to Gen 
eral Steele, of Arkansas, 491 ; about Arkansas 
Convention, 492; to General Gillmore. about 
Florida, 514; to workingmen of Manchester, 
496; to workingmen of London, 49S; to 
Christian Commission, 500; to 11. W. Hoff- 
man, Maryland, 512; to General Grant, 523" 
to Colonel Loomis, 524; to F. A. Conkling, 
558; to committee of Convention, 503 ; to J. 
0. Welling, 504; in regard to alleged [ace 
commissioners, 573, 575, 576, 580; to H. J. 
Raymond, 587, 5S8; in reply to protest of 
Tennosseans, 59S; to M. Blair, 602; tender- 
ing thanks to General Sheridan, 004 ; to H. 
W. Hoffman, 008, to J. Phillips. 615; to Mi , 
Bix'.y. 616; to Mrs. Gurney, 616; to J. Mae- 
lean. 619 ; to Governor Smith, Vermont, 067 ; 
to Mr. Hodges, Kentucky, 707 ; to General 
Hooker. 70s, 769; to General McClellan, i73; 
to J. B. Fry. 770; to Governor Magoffin, 
TTu ; to • ionnt Gasparin. 771. 
Lincoln. Abraham— autobiography, 17; split- 
ting rails. 23; Batboatman, 28, 24; grocery 
keeper, 25; Captain in Black (lawk War. 25; 

elected to Legislature. 20; letter to Col. AH, ,, 

27; protest ea slavery, 2$; defeuds Arm- 



SOG 



Index. 



Borons, 29 ; estimation by the bar, 32 ; elect- 
ed to Congress, 88; opposes the Mexican 
war, 33; resolutions on Mexican war, 35; 
speech on internal improvements, 30; on 
slavery in the District of Columbia, 39; on 
Wilmot proviso, 41; on Pacheco case, 41; 
candidate for Senator, 41, 44, 51 ; invents a 
boat, 42 ; on popular sovereignty, 44, 79; in 
Fremont campaign, 4(5; speech at Spring- 
field. 47. 52; speech at Chicago, 58; debate 
with Donglas, 62; questioned by Douglas, 
64; questions Donglas, 65; speech at Col- 
umbus, 73; speech at Cincinnati, 81; speech 
at Cooper Institute, New York, 85; visit to 
New York, 100; visit to Five Points, 100; 
letter on Jefferson, 101 ; nominated at Chi- 
cago, 102; visited by committee, 104; accepts 
nomination, 105; election to Presidency, 107 ; 
departure for Washington, 131; arrival at 
Washington, 158; inauguration, 161; inter- 
view with the mayor of Baltimore, 175; visit 
to the army before Petersburg, .",.©; nomi- 
nated for re-election to Presidency, 558; ac- 
cepts nomination, 559, 563; interview with 
western men, 56S; course pursued in regard 
to salary, 600; re-election to Presidency, 612, 
664; receives colored people, 637; holds con- 
ference with rebel commissioners at Hamp- 
ton Roads, 050; second inauguration, 1S05, 
670; visits Army of Potomac, 677 ; remarks 
on military position of Sherman, 678; tele- 
graphs from City Point the progress of bat- 
tle. 679; visits Richmond, 681; interviews 
with leading men of Richmond, 0s3; disre- 
gards warnings in regard to his personal 
safety, 692: remarks to Mr. Colfax, 094; at- 
tends a meeting of the Cabinet, April 14, 
1805, 694 ; interview with Colfax and Ash- 
mnn, 095; attends the theatre, 095; his as- 
sassination, 697; the scene of death, 698,778; 
funeral services at Executive Mansion, T08; 
funeral cortege, 704; its progress from Wash- 
ington to Springfield, 706-711; burial, 712; 
estimate of Mr. Lincoln's character, 715. 

For official papers. &c, see Address, Let- 
ter, Message, Order, Proclamation. 

For traits of character, see Ajn-kcdotes and 

KrEMlNISCENSES. 

Long. Alexander, censured by Ilouse of Rep- 
resentatives, 471. 

Louisiana — admission of members of Congress, 
870; movements for reorganization, 483; 
President's letter to Governor Shepley, 4i0; 
application for authority to call a Convention, 
486: application of planters to the President, 
487; President's reply, 4S7; General Banks's 
proclamation ordering an election, 488; elec- 
tion of Governor Halm, 4s;> ; abolition of 
alau'ry, 511 ; I resident's remarks, 084. 



Magruder's report of rebel strength at York- 
town, 274. 

Maryland — passage of troops through Balti- 
more, 173; President's correspondence with 
Governor Hicks, 174; President's interview 
with authorities, 175; arrest of members of 
the Legislature, 378 ; abolition of slavery, 511. 

Maynard, Horace, reply to President's address 
on emancipation, 238. 

McClellan -^ppointed commander-in-chiefi 
265; reporPof rebel strength at Yorktown, 
274; movement to the Chiekahominy, 277; 
reports of Williamsburg, 270; wants McDow- 
ell to join him by water, 279, 287; letter o 
advice to the President, 296; ordered to with 
draw from the Peninsula, 293; ordered t-' 
superintend the forwarding of re-enforce 
nients to Pope, 303; his failure to aid Popo- 
803; suggests that Pope be left to "get ou 
of his scrape," 310; stops Franklin's advance- 
811; failure to pursue Lee after A ntietam, 
812; ordered to advance, 318 ; nominated for 
Presidency, 593. 

Meade, Gen. — succeeds Hooker, 409; fights at 
Gettysburg, 410. 

Message of the President — extra session of Con 
gross, JtUy, 1861,186; first annual, Decem- 
ber, 1861, 212; recommending aid to States 
emancipating slaves, 229 ; approving bill to 
abolish slavery in District of Columbia. 223 
approving confiscation bill, 245; sustaining 
Secretary Cameron, 24S; seconil annual, 1S62, 
844; recommending aid for emancipation 
354; on the currency, 306; third annual 
1863,445; in reference to commission of Gen- 
eral F. P. Blair, 473, 474 ; in regard to relief 
of people of East Tennessee, -175; recom 
mending continuance of bounties to volun 
teers, 478; fourth annual, 1804, 024; trans- 
mitting correspondence relative to Ilomptox 
Roads conference, 653; concerning reprosen 
tation in electoral college, 664. 

Mexico — the new empire, 403; Mr. Seward' 
letter on, 465; President declines to recog 
nize, 400; resolution of House of Represent 
atives, 407. 

Missouri — condition of the State at outbreak oi 
the rebellion, 422; emancipation in. 4'_'7; ap 
pointment of Gen. Curtis. 4-.N; President's 
dispatch about, 428; Gen Schofield's appoint 
ment, 423; President's instructions to. 4:i0 
his removal. A-''i ; President's interview with 
radicals of. 429; abolition of slavery in, 431, 
511; mass convention. 481; President's let- 
ter to Mo. committee, 482; President's letter 
on church contests, 428; President's letter 
to Gen. II nnter. 424. 

Mobile harbor defences captured, 543. 



National Militia — passage of the conscription 
bill, 864; its provisions, 304; President'* 



Index. 



80 



proclamation ooticerninz. 365; draft and riots 
in N.Y., 402; Gov Be} mour's correspondence 
with the President, 408; President's dis- 

patchflS to Chicago, -RlO. 



a k-der of the President — retiring Gen. Scott, 
204; for advance of U. S. armies, 265; for 
advance of Army of Potomac, 200, 31S; to 
leave Washington properly defended, 208; 
to military and naval commanders in regard 
to property and persons of African descent* 
881; concerning the Sabbath, 342; for draft 
for 500,000 men, 479 ; calling for an additional 
200,000 men, 479; defining military liability 
of citizens recognized as consuls of foreign 
powers, and revoking exequatur of consul of 
Belgium for St. Louis, 4i>0; investing M. 
Halm with powers of military governor of 
Louisiana, 4S9 ; extending protection to col- 
ored troops, 520; tendering thanks, Ac,, upon 
successes at Mobile Bay and Atlanta, 545, 
546; tendering thanks to hundred-day volun- 
teers, 605; requiring passports in certain 
cases, 638; in regard to death of Edward 
Everett, 643; appointing Mrs. Bushnell post- 
mistress, 665; concerning blockade-runners, 
676; to Gen. Grant, about peace negotiations, 
676; in reference to Virginia Legislature and 
its annulment, 6S3; to reduce war expendi- 
tures, and remove military restrictions on 
trade, 690. 



Peace Conference — its action, 124; action of 
Congress on it, 12S. 

Petersburg besieged, 580, 541. 640, 666, 67T. 

Plymouth, Jf. C, surrendered to the rebels, 
521. 

Presidential Election, 1S61 — popular and elec- 
toral vote, 109; presidential election, 1864, 
547; nomination of Fremont, 551; nomina- 
tion of Lincoln, 55S; his acceptance, 559, 
563; McClellan nominated, 593; Fremont 
withdraws, 595; incidents of the canvass, 
596; result, 612, 664. 

Proclamation by the President — calling for 
75,000 troops, and convening Congress, 172; 
of blockade, 177; increasing army and navy, 
181; instructing commander of U. S. forces 
in Florida, 181 ; revoking order of Gen. Hun- 
ter, 233 ; in regard to blockade. 251 ; of eman- 
cipation, Sept., 1862, 257; of emancipation, 
Jan. 1, 1863, 260; for Thanksgiving, April 
10, 1865, 327: to the rebels. 832; admitting 
West Virginia, 3C9; suspending the writ of 
luibtas corpus, 881, 898; in regard to na- 
tional forces bill, 400; of victory at Gettys- 
burg. 411; for Thanksgiving, July 15, 1S63, 
417; Thanksgiving for victories in East Ten- 
nessee. 4'jo; tor I'hanksgiving, Oct. :;. 
420; of amnesty and reconstruction, 457, 



459: calling for 3nn.nr,0 v< .imtcers. 477; in 
regard to bill of Congress for reconstruction, 
495; appointing a day of humiliation ana 
prayer, *V4; declaring martial law in Ken- 
tucky, 586; ordering draft of 500,000 men, 
540; for Thanksgiving, 008; In regard' to 
blockade. 622; calling for 800,000 men, 883; 
calling extra session of Senate, 666; to de- 
serters, 672; in reference to Indian hostili- 
ties, 675; concerning the blockade, r.--, 6-9; 
restrictions placed upon national vessels by 
foreign powers must be withdrawn, 6^9. 



Reconstruction — President's movements to- 
wards and message on, 455; proclamation 
for, 458; remarks on, 4*1; letter to N. A. 
Review, 4S2; movements towards, in Louis- 
iana, 483; movements in Arkansas, 490; bill 
providing for. passed by Congress, 494; pro- 
clamation of President concerning, 495; elec- 
tions in Tennessee, 596; President's views 
on, 6S4. 

Red River expedition, 516. 

Richmond besieged, 542, 040, 666, 677; occu- 
pied. 6S1. 

Riots in N. T., 402. 



Savannah captured, 639. 

Scott, Gen.— resignation of, 203; President's 
order retiring, 2t)4, 

Schofleld — appointment to 'Western Depart 
ment, 428; President's instructions to, 428; 
removal from command. 408. 

Secession conspiracy — at Washington, 112 ; Mr. 
Stephens's speech against it, 114. 

Secession — of South Carolina, 111 ; of Virginia, 
180. 

Seward, Win. H. — instructions to onr minister 
in England, 182, 183; reply to French offer 
of mediation, 335; diplomacy of 1863, 460; 
letter to Mr. Adams on danger of war with 
England, 462; letter on the Mexican ques- 
tion, 465; letter concerning Hampton Roads 
conference, 650; accident to, Gs3, 693; mur- 
derous assault on, 699. 

Seymour, Governor of Xew York— correspond- 
ence with President on the draft, 403. 

Sheridan, General — raid upon Lee's tlank, 527; 
takes command in Shenandoah Valley, 541 ; 
victories over Early, 603, 604; cavalry raid 
to the west of Richmond, 677 : successful at- 
tack on Lee's right flank, 678, 679 I 

Sherman, General— expedition from Vicksburg, 
515: moves towards Atlanta, M0, 53S; cap- 
tures Atlanta, 544; marches through Georgia*. 
and captures Savannah, 639; march through 
South Carolina, 668; at Goldsboro', North 
Carolina, 677. 

Slavery and Slaves — relations of slavery to the 
rebellion, 199 ; employment of slaves, bill in 



808 



Index. 



regard to, 200; President's views regcrding 
fugitive slaves, 206; abolition in Territories, 
22S; abolition in District of Columbia, 223; 
resolution approving President's policy of 
aiding emancipation in States, 281 ; adoption 
in both Houses, 232; emancipation procla- 
mations, 257, 200 ; negroes authorized to be 
employed in army, 4GS; action of military 
commanders concerning, 329 ; Halleck's let- 
ter about slaves, 330 ; constitutional amend- 
ment prohibiting, G45. 

States — relation of rebel States to the general 
government, 362, 4S1. 

State Prisoners — executive order relative to, 
379 ; order releasing, 3S3 ; appointment of a 
commission on, 3bl ; case of Vallaudigham. 
364. 

Stephens, A. IT. — speech against seccession, 
114; statement of objects of the Confedera- 
cy, 115; report on Hampton Loads confer- 
ence, 0.V2. 

St. Albans, raid upon, 611, 637. 

Sumter, bombardment of Fort, 171. 



Taney, Chief-Justice, death of, 621 

Taussig. James, his account of an interview 

with the President, 429. 
Tennessee, elections in, 596. 



Union and Republican Convention, 1S64, 554; 



resolutions adopted, 550 ; nominates Mr. Lin 
coin, 558. 

Vallaudigham — his arrest, trial, and sentence, 
3S4; President's letter to Albany meeting 
concerning, 3bG; President's letter to Ohio 
meeting concerning, 394; nominated for 
Governor of Ohio, 443 ; is defeated, 443. 

Vicksburg — siege and surrender, 413. 

Virginia — secession of, ISO; Lincoln's reply to 
commissioners, 179 ; admission of West 
Virginia, 307. 

War — Crittenden resolution declaring its ob- 
jects, 200. 

War Department — order for protection of 
Washington, 270 ; order for seizure of rebel 
property, 331; to reduce war expenditures 
and remove military restrictions on trade, 
690. 

Workingmen of Manchester, England, address 
to President, 496; of London, address to 
President, 493; of New York, visit to Presi- 
dent, 49a 

Wilderness, battles of the, 524. 

Wilmington occupied, 60S. 

Vorktown — McClellan's report of rebel 
strength, 274; Magruder's report, 274; evac- 
uation of, 275. 



RITCHIE'S 

DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 



The President died at 22 minutes past "."—Secretary Stanton to General Dix, April 15th, 1SG5. 

A 

Picture of Permanent National Interest. 

PAINTED AND ENGRAVED BY A. LT. RITCHIE. 



A magnificent Engraving on Steel from Ritchie's original painting, representing the last mo- 
ments of President Lincoln, is in active preparation, and will be published during the yea* 
18C6. It will be executed by Mr. Ritchie, who unites in an eminent degree the genius of 
the painter with that of the engraver, and who in bo th departments of art stands in the front 
rank of American artists, in proof of which statement we refer to his great pictures of " Wash- 
ington and his Generals," "Fitting out Moses for the Fair," and " Mercy Knocking at the Wicket 
Gate." 

The portraits included in the group composing tho last sad scene in the eventful life of our 
beloved President were taken from life sittings, and are remarkable for their fidelity to nature, 

The life-like portraits of the eminent men — absorbed by the event about to take place* 
— the touching pathos of the scene — the absence of every thing of a sensational or melo- 
dramatic character, and the apparent truthfulness with which the gifted artist has delineated 
tho surroundings of the dying patriot, must commend this great work to every lover of 
the real in historic art. As a specimen of natural and harmonious grouping we are bold to say 
that this admirable painting has seldom been surpassed. The figures aro twenty -six in number, 
and comprise those of the dying President ; his son, Capt. Robt. Lincoln ; Vice-President Johnson* 
Secretaries Stanton, Welles, McCulloch, and Usher; Postmaster-General Dennison, and Attor- 
ney-General Speed; Generals Ilalleck, Meigs, Augur, and Todd; Senator Sumner, Lev. Dr. 
Gurley ; Speaker Colfax ; John Hay, Private Secretary ; Ex-Governor Farwell, Judge Carter, 
Judge Otto, Surgeon-General Lames; Doctors Crane and Stone; Hon. Mr. Farnsworth, Ii. F* 
Andrews, and M. L. Field. 



The size of the Engraving will be 21 inches by 32 inches, on largo and heavy 

Plate Paper. 

SIZE OF THE PAINTING, 7 FEET BY 4} FEET. 

PRICES. 

Artist's Proofs (signed), $50; India Proofs, $25; Prints, $10. 

Address DERBY & MILLER, Publishers, 

5 SPRUCE STREET, N. Y. 

The Engraving will be Sold by Subscription only. 

Agents Wanted In every County. 



"The tribute of a free-will offering." — Deut. xvi. 10. 



m 



THE TRIBUTE BOOK: 



A RECPUD OF THE 



MUNIFICENCE, SELF-SACRIFICE, AND PATRIOTISM 

OF THE 

AMERICAN PEOPLE, 

IN DEFENCE OF THEIR INTEGRITY AS A NATION, DURING TEE TTATS FOR THE UNION. 

ILL USTRA TED. 

By FRANK B. GOODRICH, 

Author of " Tub Court of Napoleon," &c. 



The undersigned will publish, about October first, a book with the abova 
title, the object of which is to preserve, in a permanent form, as large a portion 
as may be, of the names of those who have given of their means, or devoted 
their energies, to aid the Government in prosecuting the war for the mainte- 
nance of the union of the States. 

Tho work will thus be not only a record of those who have paid " tribute " to 
the cause, but will be itself a "tribute" to them. 

The subject naturally falls under two heads — the first comprising the spon- 
taneous gifts of money to aid in the raising of regiments, the equipment of troops, 
the outfit of officers, Ac., upon the breaking out of the Rebellion ; and the second 
— when this work had been assumed by the Government — chronicling the col- 
lecting, purchasing, forwarding, and distribution of supplies to promote the 
health, comfort, and efficiency of the army. 

The first work was, of necessity, done without order or system; the second 
was accomplished by organized bodies, known as the Sanitary and Christian 
Commissions. 

Tho book wih in nowise be a mere list of names or catalogue of subscriptions, 
though in this respect it is intended to be as full as its limits will allow. In the 
first place, it will contain a general narrative of the events of the period con- 
nected with the subject, enlivened by such incidents of personal effort and mu- 
nificence (and tho widow's mite will not be overlooked) as may properly find a 
place there, by authentic anecdotes, sketches of persons and places, Ac, Ac. ; 
and, secondly, it will be profusely illustrated by engravings upon wood, from de- 
signs by our first artists, executed in the best possible manner. The field for 
illustration is wide, and in this respect it is intended that the book shall not 
sutler by comparison with the finest issues of the American Press. 



It is belicred that no record whatever exists of the largest and most interest- 
ing portion of tlie free-will offerings of the American people, and it is the pur- 
pose of the publishers to supply this wane. As an evidence that no expense has 
been spared, to produce a volume everyway worthy of the subject, the pub- 
lishers otg to state, that the munificent sum of forty thousand dotlara has been 
advanced by the projector of "The Tribute Book," George Jones, Esq., of the 
New York Tunes, for the first edition alone. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Five Large "Designs, illustrating the Sanitary Commission, the Christian Commission, the 
Western Sanitary Commission, the American Union Commission, and the National Freed- 
men's Relief Association, ami containing the Portraits of their Presidents. 

Twknty-kivk Vignettes ami [nitial Lbtteus. for Couimiitees of Sanitary Fairs. 

Foub Illustrated PKoGRAMUEBOf Entertainments tor the Soldiers — Dramatic, Musical, School, 
and Amateur Theatricals. 



East Tennessee Scenery. 

Ruins of Chambersburg. 

Valley Forge. 

Lake County Delegation Chicago Fair. 

Waitresses at the Chicago Fair. 

Front Stoop Fair. 

Six ami Ninety-six Knitting for the Soldiers. 

Apple-Paring Bee. 

Quilting Party. 

The Flag upon the Churches, 

Minnie-Man of Kalamazoo. 

Bird's-Nest Bank. 

The First Subscription. 

East Tennessee Refugees. 

Blackberryin" for the Soldiers. 

Cutting Wood for Soldiers' Widows. 

Making Shirts tor Washington's Army. 

Christian Commission in the Field. 

Barrelling Appl< s for the Soldiers. 

Strawberry Festival. 

The Union Volunteer JB< frpshment Saloon. 

The Cooper-Shop Refreshment Saloon. 

Hospital Scenes. 

Getting in Hay for Soldiers' Widows. 

Voting for the Sword. 

Treating a I esriment to Doughnuts, 

The Soldti rs' Home at Memphis. 

Christmas Trees.— The Kearny Cross. 

The Vanderbilt 

From designs by the following 



International Relief. — The George Griswold. 

Santa l bus Helping the Ladies of Cincinnati. 

Ch rades and Tableaux Illustra - i 

The Ideal Freedman. 

The Magic Lantern in the Hospital. 

An Aid Society's Rooms. 

Procession of the Nevada Sack. 

The Farragut Fund. 

The Kearsarge F'und. 

The Grant Fund. 

Minnehaha. 

Mr. Mm- ■!; Reading in a Hospital. 

Patriot Orphan Home. 

A Sul scription on a Gunboat. 

j\ Stage-Coach Concert 

The Kveiett Fund for East Tennessee. 

A Soldier Dictating. 

A Hospital Steami r. 

One Day's Ii me, One Day's Labor. 

The Soldiers' Thanksgi\ ing. 
An Illustrated Bill of Fare." 
Busy Fingers. 

Fire Ambulance of Philadelphia. 
The Sugar Pendulum. 
The Fair Newspapers. 
One Cent in the Treasury. 
The National Sailors' Home. 

Ornamental Dedication. 

Pictorial Tribute to Abraham Lincoln. 



ARTISTS. 



Darley. 


■White. 


Shearman. 


MoNetot. 


Nast. 


II (Hi AN. 


HOCIISTEIN. 


CilapmahJ 


V H1TNEY. 


Stephens. 


Billings. 


MoLenah. 


Caky. 


Hknni.ssy. 


Will. 


Lu.MI.ET. 


Hitchcock. 


IIiiJ-AKB, 


HoPPIN. 


Waod. 


Fknn. 


lloWLAND. 

IIkkrick. 


Hows. 


Eytingh. 



The Tribute Book will contain five hundred and twenty pages royal octavo, 
printed on fine tinted paper, and will be illustrated by over onv hundred and fifty 
engravings. It will bo bound in Turkey morocco, gilt edges and sides, in the 
best style of workmanship. 

The Bx)k will be sold exclusively by subscription, at the reasonable price of 
Twenty 'Dollars. 

DEBBY & MILLEE, Publishers, 

• 5 SPETJCE STREET, NEW YOEK. 



CARPENTER'S 
GREAT NATIONAL PICTURE 



THE FIRST READING 

OF THE 

Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet, 

By PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 



It was the most critical period of the war. McClklxaw's campaign before Richmond, upon 
which hung the hopes of the whole loyal North, had just resulted in disastrous failure. After 
the most stupendous perparations known in modern warfare, the great sacrifice of life had ac- 
complished absolutely nothing in crushing the Rebellion, which, flushed with success, was 
more defiant than ever. Universal depression and discouragement succeeded the first brilliant 
hopes engendered by the great uprising of the North, which followed the bombardment of Fort 
6umter. 

Thus far had the war been prosecuted by the Administration without touching Slavery In 
any manner. The Proclamations of Fremont and Hunter, in Missouri and South Carolina, had 
been nullified at "Washington. 

At length, the demand for a change of policy, beginning with a few radical men, became too 
decided to be longer ignored. The Anti-Slavery party, largely in the minority at the outbreak 
of the Rebellion, numbered its converts by millions, so deeply seated had become the convic- 
tion that Slavery was the sole root and cause of the War. 

The President could no longer hesitate. The last of July, 1SC2, the first draft of the Procla- 
mation was prepared and a Special Cabinet Meeting was called; but the occasion of the sum- 
mons was not made known. The President said he had "fully decided to take tho responsi- 
bility of the act of Emancipation, but that suggestions as to the subject-matter were in order.'' 
Nothing was offered that he had not already anticipated and carefully considered, until Mr. 
Seward spoke: "This matter is of so much importance," said he, "that I fear its effect at 
this juncture; it may be considered the last measure of an exhausted Government — a cry for 
help— 'the Government stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia, instead of Ethiopia stretching 
forth its hands to tho Government.' Therefore, Mr. President, I suggest that you postpone 
the issue of the Proclamation until it can be given to the country upon Union success rather 
than de/tat." The result was. that the Proclamation was reserved, and first sriven to tho world 
amid the acclamations which followed the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. 

This is the moment of time seized by Mr. Carpenter in the composition of his picture. The 
President seems suddenly arrested and impressed by the wisdom of the view of the Secretary 
of State, Iu truth, it was an aspect of the case, as he iuformed tho artist, that ne had until that 



moment entirely overlooked. ITis marked face and figure are turned towards Mr. Seward, who 
Is in the act of speaking. He grasps the Proclamation in his lt-ft hand, which lias dropped upon 
the table at his side; the old lines of humor are all ^one from his face, and in their stead is a 
strange blending of firmness and anxiety. Slightly in the rear of Mr. Lincoln is the Secretary 
of the Treasury, Mr. Chase, standing with arms closely folded over his brenst. The President \t 
supported on each hand by the Secretaries of War and the Navy, Mr. STANTON upon the right, 
and Mr. Welles on the left.; both of whom, together with Mr. Chase, are looking, witli varying 
shades of expression, towards the speaker. Mr. Seward. At the end of the table, "p;>o>ite thi 
President, leaning forward upon his anus, is .1 r [>ok Bates, the Attorney-General. Immediately 
at his right, standing, as if having but recently entered the room, is MONTGOMERY Blair, the 
Postmaster-General. In the background, also standing, is the late Caleb 13. Surra, then Secre- 
tary of the Interior. 

By invitation of Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Carpenter occupied the State Dinlng-Rooin of the "White 
House " during the painting of the picture, which consumed about six months. 



From the Xew York Tribune. 
"It is, by all odds, next to Trumbull's Picture of the ' Declaration of Independence' — a pic- 
ture worth all the rest in the Capitol put together — the best work of this class that has been 
painted in America." 

From the Pittsburg Chronicle. 
AtTTOGRAPrrs. — The order-book for copies of the engraving of Carpenter's great picture of the 
"Cabinet Council concerning the Emancipation Proclamation" contains some very valuable 
and interesting autographs. On the first page are the orders of all the distinguished men whose 
portraits are on the canvas, and also of Secretaries Fossendcn, Dennison, Cameron, and McCul- 
loch. The first page of the Boston orders bears the name of Everett, Gov. Andrew, Sumner, 
Garrison, George Thompson, Ac. Others are scattered throughout its pages, among which we 
noticed those of Lieutenant-General Grant, Major General Sherman, Senator E. D.Morgan, 
Frederick Douglass, Gerrit Smith, and many more of equal note. 



A MAGNIFICENT STEEL PLATE ENGRAVING' 

From this Picture is now being executed by the celebrated Artist, 

A. H. RITCHIE. 

The Size of the Engraving will be 21 inches by 32 inches, on 
large and heavy Plate Paper. 

SIZE OF THE PAINTING, 14£ FEET BY 9 FEET. 

PKIC'ES. 

Artist's Pkoofs (signed), $50; India Proofs, $25; Prints, $10. 
ADDRESS 

DERBY & MILLER, Publishers, 

5 SPRUCE ST., N. Y. 

TUE ENGRAVING "WILL BE SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. 

Agents Wanted in every County. 



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